


King and King

by sssssssim



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-03-09 23:44:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 54,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3268733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of Sterek drabbles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The term “Hooked Up” is so broad, like did you kiss or did you do anal?

**Author's Note:**

> This won't be updated as often as Pink on Green.  
> But, every now and then, I'll get an idea, and I'll write it, and I'll put it here, cause I like the idea of having them all in a single place.  
> Now, though, I will upload all I have written until now. So I'm sorry for the initial spam :).  
> As always, not beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. Point them out and I'll fix them. Constructive criticism is always welcomed :)

Derek walks into his kitchen just as Stiles is telling Lydia ‘We just hooked up for like 5 minutes’.

He tries his best not to react, and he must manage it, because neither of them pays Derek any attention.

‘Why?’, Lydia asks, and Stiles shrugged.

‘He’s hot.’

Derek leaves the kitchen and goes for a run, ignoring Scott and Kira’s questions.

-/-

The thing was, they were doing good.

Stiles and Derek, they came a long way since the start.

Derek knew he could trust Stiles with his life, and he did, long before Stiles realized it, but over the past few months, their relationship changed. A lot, and often.

They were friends. Best friends, even if Derek would never say that out loud.

But they were. Stiles was always around, forcing Derek into watching movies, taking for hours on end about the most random of things. He ate Derek’s food, but helped him clean the house every week. Sometimes, he listened to Derek when he needed it. Other times, he came to Derek because he needed someone to listen to him. And they never refused one another. Not on those days.

Stiles wordlessly spent the day of the fire with Derek, not once mentioning it. They cooked lunch together, and then Stiles started asking questions, they weren’t about Derek’s family, but about the stories he grew up with. That’s how they spent the day, Derek remembering a lot of things he didn’t even think about in the last years, and Stiles eating up every word of it.

It was weird, for Derek. At first. Having someone so close. And Stiles, of all people. But the day he spent four hours in silence, just sitting next to Stiles as he did his homework, that’s when Derek realized that it was okay. That he had a friend in Stiles, and that he should do his best to not push him away.

Their relationship changed again, after that. Because Derek changed the way he acted with Stiles. He wasn’t suspicious anymore, he didn’t try to be someone else around him, he didn’t try to hide his smiles or sass.

Stiles noticed the difference, and very hesitantly asked him about it.

‘I just realized that you’re my best friend.’, Derek told him, sincerely, prompting Stiles’ jaw to drop. ‘Laura always said I don’t know what a best friend is, and all my life I tried to prove her wrong, why stop now?’

Stiles hugged him, without saying anything, and Derek hugged him right back.

Things changed again, a few weeks ago, because Stiles slept over at the loft for the first time. For no reason, really, he just announced he was going to. He borrowed Derek’s shirt and took off his jeans, he used Derek’s spare toothbrush and rolled around in his bed, praising its softness.

And Derek, he felt something stir deep in his gut, and he felt his heart skip a few beats. He didn’t want to think about what it meant, and he didn’t. But he did touch Stiles more. Intentionally. If Stiles picked up on it, he didn’t say anything. But he didn’t shy away either.

-/-

So it hurt, when Stiles didn’t tell him he got a boyfriend. At least, that’s what Derek thought, at first.

He tried asking Stiles about it. Not up front, fully, but Derek thought he was subtle enough. Stiles didn’t answer, so Derek let it go, and tried his best to not show how much that hurt.

But then, Stiles slipped on the stairs of the loft, and ended up scraping the side of his torso. Derek patched him up, it wasn’t bad, but it was painful.

It was only later, after Stiles left, when Derek found himself in bed, with a hand wrapped around his cock and pale skin on his mind, dotted in moles and wanting plush pink lips on his. It was only then when Derek realized what he truly felt for Stiles.

And it hit him, the realization that he wasn’t hurt that Stiles didn’t tell him about his boyfriend. No, Derek was jealous.

He couldn’t handle that.

So without even realizing it, he started pushing Stiles away. He could barely look him in the eye, let alone touch him.

They haven’t spoken, really spoken, in two weeks when Stiles finally brought it up.

-/-

It was late at night, 2 am, when Stiles all but trashed his way into Derek’s loft.

‘Please’, he said, desperately, ‘just tell me what I did wrong.’

‘What are you talking about?’, Derek asked, weary.

‘You’re pushing me away and I don’t know why!’

‘That’s not…’, Derek tried, but Stiles didn’t let him.

‘Yes it is! Don’t… don’t lie to me, Derek, please. Just don’t lie, tell me what I did wrong, just don’t lie to my face. I deserve more than that.’

‘And I don’t?’,  Derek yelled, suddenly angry.

Stiles didn’t say anything, he just frowned.

‘You got a boyfriend!’, Derek seethed. ‘You had sex with a guy, and you didn’t think that was important enough to tell me, but you told Lydia, even though you always said that you and her will never be friends. Partners, and pack, but you can’t be friends, for real, to someone you’ve loved so much. But you told her! And not me.’

Stiles was looking at him with his jaw dropped and his eyes the size of plates.

‘I don’t have a boyfriend.’, he finally said.

Derek laughed, bitterly, shaking his head. ‘You’re lying to my face now? You told Lydia you …’

‘Derek’, Stiles said, exasperatedly. ‘I was talking about Danny. We got drunk, and we kissed for like 3 minutes, until my brain kicked in and told me that Danny didn’t want that if he was sober. It didn’t…’

He sighed, deeply, and frowned some more. ‘This doesn’t make any sense.’

‘I can’t…’, Derek took a deep breath. ‘I trust you. And you lied to me.’

‘I just told you that I didn’t’, Stiles argued, and Derek saw that his expression turned to the one he usually wore when he was solving a mystery. ‘But you’re still hurt. Why?’

Derek lowered his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

‘I don’t want to hurt you’, Stiles said rather pointedly. ‘Never. What… I don’t understand.’

Derek took a deep breath, and looked at Stiles. He was staring, frowning, and Derek felt his knees go week.

‘I can’t be friends with you anymore’, the wolf whispered.

Stiles took it like a slap to the face. He gasped and stumbled a step back. The only moment Derek saw him look as hurt as this was Allison’s funeral. So he took another deep breath and tried his best to keep his eyes locked with Stiles.

‘I can’t be just friends with you anymore.’

Stiles stood still for a beat, but then he turned around and left the loft, violently shutting the door behind him.

Derek managed to get to the couch, collapsing onto it. His breathing was harsh, and he didn’t manage to fix it. He closed his eyes and tried to breath, sucking in gulps of air, but it didn’t help.

He wasn’t aware of what was happening around him, so he startled when he felt hands on his face.

When Derek opened his eyes, he saw Stiles, biting his lip and looking at him softer than ever before. He just ran his fingers through Derek’s stubble for a few seconds, until he rested his hands on the wolf’s neck, pushing his thumbs on his jaw line.

Derek was sure he wasn’t breathing at all anymore.

‘I have loved you since the moment you told me you’re my friend because you wanted to prove Laura wrong. I have had a crush on you since we were drowning, and you told me I didn’t trust you. I liked you since you told me you’d rip my throat out with your teeth.’

Derek couldn’t say anything, even if he knew what to say.

‘Don’t ever do this again’, Stiles told him seriously, pushing his body closer. ‘Don’t push me away, don’t… fuck us up without talking to me about it first.’

Derek found himself nodding.

‘Say it’, Stiles insisted, and Derek couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘I promise.’

Stiles grinned, and moved to kiss him, but Derek stopped him, gently pushing a hand to Stiles’ chest.

‘So you didn’t sleep with Danny?’

Stiles blinked three times, and then his expression turned into something flirty and cocky.

‘Nope’, he popped the p, Derek’s eyes being immediately drawn to his lips. ‘I’ll let you be the first guy to do that.’

Derek thought he should have pouted. Or maybe growl and push Stiles away. Instead, he just blushed.

‘Now that’s just adorable’, Stiles said, like it brought him great pain.

‘You’re an asshole’, Derek said, easily, raising an eyebrow.

‘It’s why we get along so well’, Stiles nodded seriously, even as he was pushing Derek into the couch and straddling his hips. ‘This is not a hook up, by the way’, he said casually, shrugging slightly. 

He tried to say something more, but Derek didn’t let him, kissing Stiles before he even got the first word out. Stiles whined, but kissed him back nonetheless.

And Derek… he just knew Laura would’ve counted this as a win for her. Because he still doesn’t know what a best friend is, considering his best friend has a hand shoved down his pants and his tongue is licking Derek’s lips.


	2. Wolf!Derek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After 4x12, they all forget to tell Stiles and Scott.

They all forget to tell Stiles and Scott. And Malia, Kira and Liam, since they were inside the temple. And Lydia, since she was still in Beacon Hills.

So only Derek knew, and Braeden and Parrish. And Argent, but he was away.

And they  _forgot_  to let everyone else know that DEREK CAN SHIFT INTO A FULL WOLF. Like that wasn’t massively important information that Stiles absolutely needed to know. Or Malia, maybe Derek could help her shift to full coyote mode too. Or Scott, really, he needed to know that they had a wolf running around. For fighting reasons. And personal, because there were tests to do, see if Scott can do it too.

But, anyway, those were questions for the future.

Right now, they just had to deal with a huge black wolf just casually trotting down the stairs of Derek’s loft, tongue lolling out.

He startled them all, Scott, Stiles, Lydia and Kira having come by looking for books that might help them figure out what Parrish is.

But the wolf didn’t even bat an eye when Scott screamed like a girl and took a very startled step back, colliding with Kira’s chest. Or how Stiles dropped the cup of coffee he was holding.

No, the wolf just made its way to the couch and curled into one corner of it, head resting on his front paws, that he crossed with a puff.

‘It smells like Derek’, Scott is the first one to talk.

‘Derek is the only one who has blue eyes’, Lydia says slowly, hiding behind Kira. ‘It must be Derek.’

‘He’s beautiful’, Stiles says, somewhat reverently.

It makes the wolf snap his jaw in Stiles’ general directing. ‘Definitely Derek’, he mutters, slowly walking towards the couch and sitting down on the coffee table.

‘You alright there, big guy?’, he asks around a smile, eyes running around, taking in every detail.

The wolf huffs.

‘That’s basically a yes in Derek speak’, Stiles turns around to address the room. When he turns around, the wolf is glaring at him. Stiles blinks and snickers at the sight.

‘But you can turn back, right?’, he asks after a while.

The wolf snaps his jaw again, his teeth very close to Stiles’ wrist. But Stiles just laughs and slaps him gently over the nose.

‘Just asking, dude! I’ve come across three different spells that can keep a shapeshifter stuck in his animal form, and that’s just in the past week.’

Derek shakes his head and puts his head back down on his paws, closing his eyes. Stiles just looks at him for a while, but in the end he gathers enough courage to gently pet the wolf, run a finger just between his eyes and down his snout. One of Derek’s ears twitches, and he doesn’t growl or show any other sign of protest, so Stiles starts gently scratching him between his ears.

He gets no reaction for his efforts, but the wolf’s tail starts moving, up and down.

Stiles grins, turning around to the rest of the pack, who are all looking at him shocked. He shrugs, unperturbed, and sits down on the couch next to Derek. He doesn’t stop petting the wolf, and Derek moves, until his front paws and head are in Stiles’ lap.

Scott yelps, again, but that seems to snap him out of the shock. He too, makes his way forward, sitting on the coffee table. Kira and Lydia stay were there are, still clinging to each other.

But Scott doesn’t touch Derek.

‘This so cool, dude’, he breathes out, and Derek puffs. It’s amused, though, Stiles thinks.

‘We came by looking for some books’, he says, still running his fingers through Derek’s thick fur. ‘And don’t get me wrong, I’d love to stay here forever and burry my face in your fur’, Scott snorts at that, but Stiles ignores him, ‘but we’re kind of on a time schedule. We’re meeting up with Parrish in half an hour.’

That makes Derek open his eyes, and regard him for a few seconds. But then, he gets up and leaps over the coffee table, trotting back up the stairs.

Stiles shares a look with Scott. ‘He is pretty’, the human says, ‘but he’s still a show off.’

‘Dramatic entrances and exits’, Scott nods, grinning.

When Derek comes back down, he’s fully human and dressed, and he raises an eyebrow at the girls, who were still clinging to each other, rooting to the spot.

‘I didn’t mean to scare you’, he says, and they both shake their heads, finally moving, Lydia towards the bed and Kira towards Scott.

‘So’, Stiles steps forward, hands in his pockets. ‘Any books that could help?’

‘Some’, Derek nods. ‘They’re in the vault.’

‘Okay’, Stiles nods. ‘You go get them and meet us back at my place? I’ll provide pizza.’

Derek snorts, but nods, moving towards the door. The pack follows, but just as he’s closing the door behind them, he sees Stiles grinning like a madman and Scott handing him a 20$ bill.

‘What was that about?’, he asks Scott, weary, when they get to parking lot.

‘We made a bet’, he answers, somewhat sheepishly. ‘Way back.’

‘About?’

Stiles snickers, making Derek raise a very judgmental eyebrow at Scott.

‘He thought you could turn into a full wolf.’, Scott explains. ‘I didn’t.’

Derek hums. ‘I didn’t think I could, if it makes you feel any better.’

‘Didn’t you know, though?’, Stiles asks.

Derek shook his head. ‘Not for sure.’

‘Dude’, Scott whispers, ‘Stiles figured it out on day 2.’

‘What?’

‘Laura was a wolf when we found her’, Stiles says softly. ‘Peter was somewhat of a wolf when he bit Scott. Later on, when I found out your mother could also turn into a wolf…’, he shrugs. ‘Hales’, he says simply, like it explains everything. ‘I thought you could only do it as an alpha, though.’

Derek stares at Stiles for a few seconds, and the boy stares back, raising an eyebrow.

‘I’m sick of you figuring everything out way before anyone else’, Derek finally says.

‘That doesn’t always happen’, Lydia points out.

‘Yes it does.’, Derek puffs. ‘He figured out Scott was a werewolf before he did, he never liked Matt, or Jackson. How to open the vault. For god’s sake,  _he_ was the one who figured out something was possessing him.’

‘I’m smart’, Stiles grinned, unperturbed. ‘And I’m telling you, Parrish is either a phoenix or a dragon.’

Scott groaned, Lydia rolled her eyes, and Derek just shook his head.

Stiles opened his mouth to tell Derek something, but he stopped him forcefully, covering his mouth with his hand.

‘I will answer your questions’, he said slowly, ‘unless they’re not stupid.’

Stiles made a sound, somewhat affronted.

‘If the words  _heat_  or  _mate_  or  _knot_  come out of your mouth, ever, in relation to me’, Derek narrows his eyes, ‘we are done.’

Stiles nods, vigorously, and when Derek takes his hand away, he’s grinning.

‘Ew’, Lydia says, looking Derek up and down. Stiles laughs, delighted.

‘Not happening’, Derek said, pointedly. ‘Ever.’

He got in his car and drove away, trying his best not to laugh at all the stupid questions Stiles was writing down so that he won’t forget them.

Derek answered all of them that night. 


	3. Don't make me leave.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After 4x12, Stiles confronts Derek.

It’s later. Weeks later. Back in Beacon Hills, back in Derek’s loft. Nothing’s attacking, nobody’s killing people, everything is calm.

Stiles stayed behind after the rest of the pack left. It was a training session, that ended up with takeout and a movie. It wasn’t surprising anymore.

But Derek was surprised, that Stiles stayed behind. It was the first time they were alone, after Mexico.

‘What is it?’, Derek asked, wearily.

Stiles leveled him with a look, swallowing thickly. It made Derek take an involuntary step back.

‘If you ever do that again’, Stiles started. His voice broke. ‘If you ever make me leave. Sacrifice yourself and tell me to leave you. For dead. Walk away and leave you alone-‘

‘I wasn’t alone’, Derek said. He realized it was the wrong thing to say instantly. Stiles didn’t even flinch.

‘I don’t care’, he shook his head. ‘I cannot watch you die again, Derek. Do you understand that? I cannot … not have you alive.’

Derek looked away, bewildered. ‘You had to save Scott.’

‘Yes. That’s what I left. But don’t make me do it again. Don’t sacrifice yourself for us.’

It took a few beats, but Derek looked up at him again. ‘I can’t promise that.’

Stiles sighed, defeated. ‘I know. That’s the saddest part.’ He then shook his head.

‘But don’t make me leave you again.’, Stiles whispered, earnestly pleading. ‘I’ll… I’ll find a way to bring you back.’

Derek smiled, despite the heaviness of the moment. ‘You make that sound like such a bad thing.’

Stiles narrowed his eyes, tilting his head to the side. ‘Have you not seen Buffy?’

Derek blinked. A couple of times. ‘I… yes. … Oh.’

‘Oh’, Stiles mocked.

‘I remember she died’, Derek frowned. ‘Saving Dawn. I haven’t… ‘, he shook his head. ‘I used to watch it with Laura, I don’t … know what happened next.’

It took a few seconds, but when Stiles continued, there wasn’t any hint of pity in his voice, for which Derek was grateful. ‘They brought her back. But things happened, and they though Willow fucked up the ritual, so… uh. Buffy woke up in the grave, had to dig herself out. She wasn’t the same, and …’, Stiles smiled then, realizing something. ‘You didn’t see the musical episode.’

Derek pulled a face, making Stiles laugh.

‘Yeah, so’, he went on, ‘uhm, Buffy told them that she was in Heaven, that’s why she was so fucked up after they brought her back.’

‘Oh’, Derek said.

Stiles smirked. ‘Let’s not get to that, shall we? Don’t get me wrong, I get it. You want to see them again, but…’ he shook his head. ‘Not yet.’

Derek was, once again, completely floored.

‘Understood?’, Stiles said, with a surprising amount of authority.

Derek nodded. ‘Don’t make you leave.’

Stiles didn’t say anything else, but he smiled before he left. Derek wasn’t so sure how he felt about that.


	4. Fantasies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon asked: _Saw this somewhere on the Sterek tag and wanted your take on it. I love your drabbles - A world where people know when someone else is fantasising about them. Where they can physically feel it._

It starts when you turn 18. You can feel when somebody is fantasizing about you. It’s weird as hell, Stiles agrees, but he doesn’t care much for it.

Because on one hand, he never jerks off to people he knows. Ever. When he pictures having sex with someone, his partner usually doesn’t have a face. It’s just a body, a pair of boobs, bright red lips on his cock, a back with strong muscles, stubble scratching his thigh. So he’s sure nobody will feel when he jerks off.

And on the other hand, he turned 18 weeks ago, and he never felt anything. Which was a little bit depressing, knowing that nobody is fantasizing about you, but he wasn’t all that bothered by it.

Of course he spoke to soon, because the weird things started happening three months after he turned 18.

⌂

The first time it happens, Stiles freaks out. He just got home from the weekly pack movie night, and as he’s taking a shower before bed, there’s a tingle in the back of his neck. He pays no mind to it, but two minutes later, it spreads through all his body. Like electricity cursing through his veins, and causing his body to get warmer and warmer.

Stiles panics, at first, but then he gets hard. Instantly.

He learned in sex-ed ways to control it (it was a necessity, because society can’t function very well with guys popping boners randomly), but this was his first time, he couldn’t do much.

So he took his cock in his hand, moved his fist a couple of times and came in record time.

⌂

Once he got over the initial shock, Stiles thought about it and he found a pattern. It wasn’t a hard thing to do, because whomever it was, she or he were doing it only once a week, always after he came home from the pack movie night.

He wasn’t sure it was someone in the pack. Until he found an excuse to skip one week, and that night nothing happened.

Stiles still wasn’t sure, so the next week he turned up to movie night wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a tight v-neck, with his hair done and freshly shaved.

It happened again that night, and it lasted twice as long.

Most people said there wasn’t any way of finding out _who_ was fantasizing about you. But most people haven’t met Stiles. He was stubborn and incredibly curious, but beyond that, he was also a human with witchy tendencies in a werewolf pack.

So the next week, he sped home from movie night. By the time the fun started, Stiles was already meditating.

It helped, but not a lot. He still didn’t figure out who it was, but he figured out it was a guy. Stiles couldn’t explain it, but he felt it, and he knew for sure that it was a guy.

He saw things, flashes that were gone as soon as they came. He saw dark gray bedding and a pair of black socks. So not much. But over the next weeks, he didn’t stop. He concentrated harder when he meditated, he even tried a spell or two.

Finally, after six weeks, he managed to see something more. He saw the man’s legs, and his right hand scratching over his thigh.

And Stiles immediately woke up from his meditating, with a yelp, and he fell off his bed.

Because he recognized that hand. And he couldn’t believe it.

⌂

In the time Derek spent being human, he managed to avoid any live-threatening injuries. But when they were in Mexico, fighting Kate, he got a piece of metal stuck in his right hand, just above the knuckles. When he got his wolf powers back, the scar didn’t fade away.

Derek was fantasizing about Stiles.

Derek was jerking off, thinking about Stiles, after every movie night.

Why?

Stiles didn’t understand.

Why?

Was it possible?

Why?

⌂

Stiles tried to ignore it. He tried not to think about it when he was in the same room with Derek, and by now, he managed to ignore it when it happened.

Most times though, he wouldn’t. Because it was late at night, and he was alone in his bed, so most times, Stiles jerked off too.

⌂

It got weird pretty fast.

They always sat next to each other on movie night, but this particular one, Stiles couldn’t focus enough to actually watch the movie. So he spent a quite embarrassing amount of time looking at Derek’s scar.

He couldn’t look away.

Stiles saw the flashes he was already familiar with, of Derek’s hand running up his thigh. Then, he started imagining Derek’s hand on his own thigh, in his hair. Derek scratching Stiles’ back, grabbing his ass and moaning into his neck.

‘Stop it’, Derek , the real Derek, brought Stiles out of his funk. Derek, who could smell feelings and arousal.

‘You stop it’, Stiles didn’t miss a beat in answering.

‘I’m not doing anything’.

‘Not right now you’re not.’, Stiles puffed, condescending, but he blushed the second the words came out of his mouth. He didn’t look away from Derek, though.

Derek, who froze. He was staring at the tv, but his eyes were unfocused. He didn’t say anything. For the rest of the night, Derek didn’t say one word to Stiles.

He didn’t jerk off that night, either. Stiles was surprised by how disappointed he felt.

⌂

Over the next two weeks, things between Stiles and Derek got weird. They barely looked at each other when they were in the same room, the texting stopped, they stopped going out for lunch on Tuesdays.

Stiles was miserable.

But he liked Derek, a lot, and he cared about him even more. And by the looks of things, Derek felt the same way too, even if he was acting like his usual emotionally constipated self.

So he caved.

After the next movie night, Stiles didn’t get up from the couch. When all the pack left, he stayed at Derek’s loft. Scott was the only one who said something, and all he did was ask Stiles if he was sleeping over. He didn’t even bat an eye when Stiles said yes.

When Scott closed the door behind him, Derek was glaring at Stiles, with his arms crossed over his chest.

‘So’, Stiles started, but he couldn’t go on. So he got up and grabbed his backpack, wordlessly heading to the bathroom. He changed into pajamas, brushed his teeth and padded barefoot back into the living room.

Derek hadn’t moved.

So Stiles didn’t stop until he was in front of the wolf, and he took a deep breath before talking again.

‘So you know how us humans do that thing, where we can sense when someone’s fantasizing about us?’

Derek paled and took a step back. Stiles smirked and followed him.

‘And you know that most people can’t figure out who is fantasizing about them.’

‘Stiles, I-‘, Derek tried saying, letting his hands fall, taking another step back.

Stiles didn’t let him talk, and he took another step forward, but this time he grabbed Derek’s right hand, absently running his thumb along the scar.

‘Most people don’t know how to meditate properly or how to channel their inner magic.’

Derek tried to take his hand out of Stiles’ hold, but he didn’t let him.

‘So tell me, big guy’, Stiles smiled, boldly running his fingers over the crinkle that appeared between Derek’s eyebrows when he frowned, ‘you got anything to tell me?’

It took a while for Derek to answer, and all he managed was to whisper an unbelievable ‘no’.

Stiles kissed him. Short and chased, just a quick press of his lips over Derek’s, and he grinned when he pulled back.

Derek was watching him with wide eyes and his cheeks were flushed, blush going under his shirt.

Stiles giggled, and started tracing Derek’s jaw line, planting kisses between words, slowly bringing their bodies even closer together.

‘If it was so good while we were in different sides of town, how great do you think it’ll be if we’re in the same room?’

Derek didn’t answer at first, but his knees bucket when Stiles licked behind his ear. It was the push Stiles needed to take a final minimal step, slanting his body flush against Derek’s.

‘How great would it be if we could actually touch each other?’, he whispered in the wolf’s ear, not once wiping the grin off his face.

‘I don’t want that’, Derek blurted out.

When Stiles froze, completely, Derek continued in a more controlled tone.

‘I don’t want _just_ that.’

‘Okay’, Stiles agreed easily. ‘Me neither. I want more. But I want that _now_. We can talk in the morning.’

‘You’re staying?’

The uncertainty in Derek’s voice made Stiles roll his eyes and bring both of his hands up around the wolf’s shoulders.

‘Yes, Derek, I’m staying.’

It was Derek who kissed him this time.


	5. The Jewish-Japanese Sex & Cook Book and How to Raise Wolves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this](http://41.media.tumblr.com/d894380dd8b1fb4c06501ca519bff5ee/tumblr_na7hjvlYgK1tj9zbno1_500.png) book.

Stiles still had an hour to lose until his dad was free for dinner, so he went his favorite bookshop in Beacon Hills, which happened to be only selling used books. So he spent a lot of minutes there, going through the shelves and picking up anything that caught his eye, because they were cheap.

It was there, where he found this book. His mind instantly went to Scott, because it was just  _so fitting_.

Jewish, because Stiles was Jewish, and Scott always asked the weirdest things in relation to that, even since they were kids.

Japanese and Sex because he was dating Kira, and because Stiles knew they hadn’t gotten to that part yet, but it wasn’t going to be long.

Cook Book because Scott couldn’t cook for the life of him, and Lydia once made a joke about the Alpha having to provide for his pack, a joke that made Scott become incredibly pale and look at her in horror.

And How to Raise Wolves, because Scott, bless his soul, was trying his best to do the right thing toward Liam, who was still struggling with being a werewolf.

Needless to say, Stiles started laughing like a maniac.

He didn’t stop laughing as he paid for the books. He barely stopped laughing as he met his father for dinner. By the time he got to Derek’s place for the pack meeting, he managed to calm down. Barely.

Derek cornered him as soon as he got into the loft, concerned and touching Stiles’ shoulder, asking Stiles what was wrong, why has he been crying, because his eyes were still red.

That triggered Stiles into hysteric laughter again. Derek was looking at him with concern, so Stiles took a deep breath and got the book out of his backpack, going over to Scott. Derek followed.

Stiles handed the book to Scott, who was frowning at Stiles.

‘I got you a present’, Stiles grinned, barely containing his laughter.

‘Thanks, man’, Scott hugged him instantly, without even reading the title. Stiles laughed harder.

Scott pulled away and looked down at the book. He read the title and frowned down at it.

‘What is it?’, Kira asked, cheerfully and completely oblivious.

The second he heard her voice, Scott’s eyes grew wide and he blushed all the way down his neck.

‘Nothing’, he stammered out. ‘Absolutely nothing.’

He looked towards Stiles, seeking help, but Stiles was too busy wiping laughter tears from his face. So Scott, in an idiotic impulse, threw the book at Derek.

Who easily caught it, glaring at Scott all the while. But then, he looked down at the book. Then, he looked up at Stiles. Then, he started laughing. It surprised even himself, by the looks of it, and that got Stiles laughing even harder.

The rest of the pack was staring at them. Derek was clutching the book to his chest, looking at Stiles and laughing. Stiles was looking at Derek, and laughing. Scott was looking at them in shock.

After a while, Scott snapped out of it.

‘You are the worst best friend in the history of ever!’, he all but yelled at Stiles.

‘The best’, Derek nodded, clapping Stiles on the back and unbashfully handing the book to Kira. She also blushed all the way down her neck, and refused to look at Scott.

Stiles and Derek started laughing again.

•••

Derek liked the book. He was the only one to actually read it. He was disappointed, though, because there was almost no cooking and the sex was just between wolves. 


	6. Parents Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles comes home one evening to the parents having a party.

Stiles comes home one evening, exhausted and just about done with everything happening in his life. He makes his way towards the living room, wanting nothing more than to spend the night on the couch, watching Netflix.

He stops dead in his tracks when he sees what's happening in his living room.

Which is filled with parents. His dad, both the McCall's, Ms Martin, the Yukimuras, even Chris Argent. There are snacks and cookies on the coffee table, alongside several bottles of empty wine bottles, Nat King Cole is playing softly in the background and they're all ... relaxed. They’re sitting around the coffee table, talking in odd pairings, they all have wine glasses in their hands and they’re…

Laughing. They were laughing when he came inside.

They all froze when they saw Stiles, just as much as he did.

He turns towards his father, who's sitting next to Melissa on the couch, an old book that Stiles recognizes as one of the bestiaries Argent has in his collection layed open between them in their laps.

'Did something happen?', Stiles asks his father, slowly.

The Sheriff shakes his head. 'No. Everything's fine.'

He's not lying, Stiles realizes. He still can't move, though. Not much. But he does manage to grab his phone from his pocket.

'Scott's on a date with Kira', Melissa smiles at him, already knowing who Stiles was about to call.

'Right', Stiles nods and punches the 4th speed dial on his phone. He doesn’t move until it rings, and neither do the parents.

‘You left 10 minutes ago’, Derek sighs when he answers the phone. ‘What could have possibly happened in 10 minutes?’

‘The parents are having a party in my living room.’, Stiles used no inflection in his voice.

There’s a pause.

‘Which parents?’, Derek asks, wearily.

‘All of them. Can I sleep over?’

The Sheriff frowns. Derek sighs, again, but tells him to bring pizza.

After Stiles puts his phone back into his pocket, he glares at his father. ‘I am going to use one of your preferred tactics here, so you do not have the right to comment on it.’

The Sheriff raises his eyebrows.

Stiles points a finger at him, waving it around. ‘I don’t wanna know.’

He turns around to leave, takes a few steps toward the door, but then he stops. Then, Stiles turns around and smiles at the women in the room.

‘Enjoy your evening. Please don’t do the dishes, I’ll clean up everything in the morning.’

‘Give Derek a kiss from us’, Melissa adds, sweetly, but Stiles can still see a hint of … something, violently mischievous in her eyes.

‘No’, he glares, making her giggle.

Stiles leaves the room without another word, closing the door to the living room behind him. After he grabs his pajama, tooth brush and pillow, he goes down the stairs, where his father is waiting for him.

‘I really don’t wanna know, dad’, Stiles doesn’t stop, putting his sneakers on. ‘Have fun, you guys deserve it.’

‘Why are you sleeping at Derek’s?’

Stiles raises an eyebrow. ‘So I can at least pretend my night is going to be more entertaining than the one of the parents.’

The Sheriff’s eyes grow wide.

‘Stiles’, he says, angrily. ‘You just broke up with one Hale, do you really think it’s appropriate to go after another one?’

That makes Stiles freeze. ‘You’re insane.’, he starts by saying, slowly. ‘I cannot even begin to explain how much that is not happening.’

‘Stiles-‘

‘No’, he says, pointedly. ‘Just… No.’

They glare at each other for a few seconds, until Stiles sighs and looks away.

‘Go back to your party and your wine and your Ms McCall’. His father blanches at that, and Stiles smirks, but he doesn’t stop talking. ‘Enjoy your night, you do deserve it. I’m gonna be at Derek’s, eating pizza and, knowing us, probably marathoning Arrested Development. And I meant it, don’t let the ladies clean up anything, I’ll do it in the morning.’

The Sheriff grumbles something, but Stiles doesn’t really catch it, because he’s already out the door.

When he gets to Derek, with pizza and bags filled with chocolate, the wolf’s waiting for him with a small pillow fort done on the couch, and a bottle of sweet red wine.

Stiles confesses his undying love for him, Derek rolls his eyes, Stiles tells him what happened, Derek laughs for a good ten minutes. He stops laughing when Stiles tells him that his father thinks there’s something happening between them. Derek blushes, instead, and Stiles is the one who laughs at that.

They do marathon Arrested Development, and fall asleep in a food coma in the middle of the pillow fort. They’re woken up in the morning by the Sheriff calling Stiles, asking him to bring aspirins for his head ache.

Stiles laughs till he falls off the couch.


	7. BEWARE: Tiny White Bat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this](http://40.media.tumblr.com/86b6fd5770d3a96a9e4281bffd6a0dd8/tumblr_n8sygeZcia1sqlhuko2_500.jpg) picture.

Stiles really didn’t care much about his birthday these days. But everybody around him seemed to, so he caved. When Lydia marched up to him and asked him if he wanted help in organizing the party, Stiles caved.

It wasn’t a party, though. It was just the pack, huddled out in Derek’s loft, wearing pajamas and fluffy socks, with tons of food, lots of cake, some drinks and a whole bunch of bad movies. Stiles thought it was perfect.  

But because this was Lydia, they were still gifts. Stiles sat on the couch opening each and every one in the pile, smiling all the while and feeling lighter than he had in months.

So when the pile of gifts on the coffee table was finally done, Stiles opened his mouth to let out what was probably an emotional thank you, but he didn’t get a chance to deliver it, because Derek grunted.

In typical Derek fashion, he was on the other side of the room, but he grunted and made his way towards the couch, stopping on the other side of the coffee table.

He grunted again, taking a gift out of his pocket and throwing it at Stiles.

Stiles caught it, but frowned down at it, because it was very nicely wrapped, in a baby blue paper with cute little white jeeps on it. Kira actually _awwwww_ ed out loud. Stiles could relate.

He raised an eyebrow at Derek, but the wolf didn’t budge. He just crossed his hands over his chest and grunted again.

Stiles shrugged and went on with opening his present. After he removed the wrapping paper, he was met with a small wooden box, about as big as his palm. There was a cute little bat carved unto the lid, along with the words

_BEWARE Tiny White Bat. Open at your own risk._

Stiles was very confused. So he looked back up at Derek.

Who smirked. ‘Open it.’

Stiles hesitated. ‘But is it an actual tiny bat?’

Derek’s smirk grew wider. ‘Open it and see.’

‘No, but’, Stiles insisted, ‘is this a magic thing? Like, is the box made out of a Rowan tree? If I open it, will a real tiny bat jump out of it and straight at my throat? Or will it hit me with a spell that will turn me into a tiny white bat?’

Derek, the asshole, shrugged, smirk not once wavering.

Stiles glared at him for a couple of seconds, completely unaware of the fact that the rest of the pack was staring at Derek like he was the second coming of Jesus.

Stiles sighed, getting up from the couch and stepping on the coffee table, which landed him by Derek’s side. They were now facing each other, a challenge in Derek’s eyes, and Stiles never once moved his eyes from the wolf, as he pulled up his sleeves and his pajama bottoms.

‘If this hurts me’, Stiles narrowed his eyes, ‘you better tell me now, because I am the only one who actually knows when your birthday is. Revenge will be glorious and bloody.’

Derek snorted a laugh, shaking his head.

‘Open the damn box, Stiles.’ There was a pause, in which he raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ll protect you.’

Stiles sighed, for what felt like the million time, but he straightened his back, took a defensive position, and slowly, so very very slowly, opened the lid.

His jaw fell, instantly. Stiles’ eyes grew wide and his heart beat sped up, just a bit. He looked up at Derek, who was trying very hard not to laugh. That shocked Stiles some more.

‘What is it?’, Scott asked, impatient, and when Stiles looked over, all the pack was staring.

‘The best gift ever’, Stiles answered, but he quickly looked back at Derek, who was biting his lip and whose shoulders were shaking in silent laughter.

Stiles closed the lid to the box, threw it in the general vicinity of Scott’s head, and pounced on Derek, wrapping his hands around his shoulders and hugging as tightly as he could. Stiles started laughing, hysterically, but it was okay, because Derek was laughing too.

When they finally pulled apart, the pack was staring at them. Stiles playfully clapped Derek on the back and grinned.

‘I present to you Derek Hale, the man with the worst humor in existence.’

‘Matched only by yours’, Derek growled under his breath, causing Stiles to burst out laughing again.

It felt good. Stiles felt good. He couldn’t really remember the last time he felt this good. And it was because of a horrible pun and because of a growly werewolf.


	8. Dobrze jest mieć jakiegoś asa w rękawie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After 4x2, with de-aged Derek.

The first time they see each other again, Derek glares. A lot. He doesn't take his eyes off Stiles for a few long minutes, glaring all the while. It’s only been an hour since he came back, they’re at Deaton’s and the pack is talking around them, about Berserkers and Kate and the missing money and Stiles’ head is spinning, and he feels a migraine coming on, and Derek just won’t. stop. staring. The pack picked up on it, and they’re throwing them curious glances, Malia doesn’t move from Stiles’ side, and Scott seems concerned.

'What?', Stiles explodes. 'What, do I have something on my face? Why do you keep staring?'

Derek just raises a very judgmental eyebrow, crossing his hands over his chest. ‘Miguel’, he says, no inflection in his voice. ‘Again.’

Stiles sighs. ‘Yeah well, last time you broke my nose with the steering wheel, now you pulled my hair and shoved me against a wall. We’re even. And, by the way, you speak Spanish!’, he waves his hands around, almost hitting Malia in the face. ‘Since when do you speak Spanish? How did I not know you speak Spanish?’

‘¿No lo sabías porque no lo preguntaste’  _[you didn’t know because you didn’t ask]_ , Derek smirks, cocky and pleased with himself, and it makes Stiles’ stomach turn, because it’s the same smirk. He spent time with a teenage Derek, and as short and frantic as it was, he caught a glimpse of it, of Derek before the fire, somewhat carefree, confident in his strength, funny and sarcastic. And it hurts Stiles to look at Derek now, because now he knows how all the things he lost changed him.

Stiles shakes his head and takes a deep breath.

‘Dobrze jest mieć jakiegoś asa w rękawie.’  _[it’s good to have surprises up your sleeve]_

Everybody’s staring at him now. Lydia dropped the notebook she was holding, Malia’s jaw is dropped and Scott is blinking really fast.

Derek narrows his eyes and tilts his head to the side.

‘It’s not Russian.’, Deaton says, curiously. ‘Polish?’

Stiles raises an eyebrow, but nods.

‘Zhal'’, Derek deadpans. ‘YA govoryu po-russki.’  _[too bad. I speak Russian]_

Stiles waves his hands around again, frustrated. ‘This is not relevant, and what even is happening right now, I’m so angry that I don’t know you speak  _tongues_ ’.

Derek sighs, slowly taking a few steps towards him. He puts a hand around the back of Stiles’ head, and he’s vaguely aware of everybody else in the room tensing up, but then Derek is gripping his hair, tugging on it, somewhat gently, until Stiles is forced to turn his head around, exposing his neck to Derek.

‘If you ever, in your life’, he’s speaking slowly, and Stiles feels Derek’s breath on his neck, and it’s making him shiver, but the wolf seems to be ignoring that, ‘introduce me as your cousin Miguel again, I’ll dismember your jeep and set the parts on fire.’

‘You wouldn’t’, Stiles yelps in indignation, putting a hand on Derek’s chest without even realizing it.

Derek smirks, raising an eyebrow. He lets go of Stiles’ hair, then, dragging his hand down his neck, making him shiver again. He grabs the hand Stiles had on his chest, squeezing it once while prying it off and pushing it away. He’s still gaping at Derek, frozen in place, and the bastard is still smirking.

Then he ruffles’ Stiles’ hair. He lets out an embarrassing sound, somewhere between a squeak and a whine, that makes Derek snort.

‘I like the long hair’, he says, grabbing at it again. ‘Easier to pull.’

Then he uses the leverage to shove Stiles into Malia, who catches him easily, and Derek just shakes his head and smiles toward the room, in general.

‘I need to sleep’, he says. ‘I’m not back at full power yet. Scott, call me tomorrow or when you have a plan.’

And he leaves, and Stiles stares after him for a couple of seconds, with Malia’s arms still wrapped around him. When he moves away and she lets go, Stiles turns around to see the pack all staring at him with various levels of shock (Scott), amusement (Deaton) or curiosity (Lydia).

‘What?’, he snaps.

‘What exactly happened when you were with him today?’, Scott asks, slowly.

‘Your dad thinks I have a cousin called Miguel.’, he deadpans.

Lydia clears her throat. ‘So does Danny.’

Stiles shrugs. ‘I’m a terrible liar. I figured I should stick to the lies that worked before.’

‘Did you two date?’, Malia asks, and Stiles stares at her.

‘Like, before this, I mean. This Derek, not teenager Derek.’, she clarifies, but it only confuses Stiles more.

His brain stopped working. It might have exploded.

‘That’s… That is… No, we… What?!’

Scott and Malia turn their head, then, in complete sync, obviously listening to something outside.

‘Derek doesn’t have a ride home’, Lydia tells Stiles, incredibly amused.

He sighs, tells the room how much he hates them all, and goes outside to drive Derek to his loft.


	9. Good morning, asshole.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this](https://40.media.tumblr.com/deedd290fa917f92c31b794b23dd912e/tumblr_nihwdwqtjS1qjnhqgo1_540.jpg) picture that came on my [dash](http://memewhore.tumblr.com/post/108673825047): "Good Morning, Asshole" mug, and "Here's your snack, dumbass" plate.

They started talking about Christmas in September. Lydia made a case for Secret Santa, but Stiles wouldn’t have it. He argued that getting a lot of presents, however small and crappy, was better than getting a single, huge gift. And he argued that it would be a better experience, for them as a pack, to bond and get to know each other better.

Everybody else agreed with Stiles, so Lydia caved. Derek suggested that they could put a 10$ limit to each gift, because there were a lot of them, and most of them were still teenagers living on their parents’ money.

They all seemed please with their decision, and over the next month, Stiles was amused, watching his pack interact. Trying to subtly ask each other questions, about the things they liked, and sneakily investigating on their own.

It was hilarious.

Stiles finished his Christmas shopping in November.

≡

Christmas was insane. The met up on the 25th, because everybody spent Christmas Eve at home.

They cooked lunch together, and ate together, and when that was done, they all lounged in Stiles’ living room, still munching on cookies and drinking hot chocolate. There was a Lord of the Rings marathon on the tv, but they didn’t pay it much attention.

When they started hanging out presents, it was… intense. There was screaming, and laughter, and Lydia violently screeching about taking turns, and Scott sticking his tongue out at her, while ripping open his gift from Malia.

Stiles laughed, a lot. He got a bunch of cool presents, comic books and dvds, a poster and two hilarious t-shirts. He was also happy, because the pack seemed to be liking what he got them.

He left the gift from Derek last. Stiles took his time opening it, since it was a box, neatly wrapped in red paper.

But when he opened it, Stiles frowned. Angry and disappointed, he glared at Derek.

‘What the hell?’

Derek startled. ‘What?’

‘You’re giving me back what I gave you?’, Stiles seethed. ‘What the fuck, Derek? That’s a very douchy move. And how did you manage to do it, it’s wrapped and everything.’

Derek was looking at him like he was insane. It made Stiles even angrier.

‘Stiles’, Derek said slowly, ‘I didn't open your gift yet.’

‘Oh’, Stiles breathed out, as his brain started working. Then, he started laughing, hysterically.

Derek shrugged, and went to open the present from Stiles. It wasn’t wrapped, it was just a simple red bag, so it didn’t take long.

The wolf stared, for a couple of seconds, but then he breathed out an incredulous ‘Oh my god’.

Stiles laughed even harder.

‘What’s going on?’, Scott asked after a while.

‘We got each other the same thing’, Stiles explained, showing off his mug and plate.

The pack all laughed, and Lydia commented about how great minds think alike.

‘Neah’, Scott shook his head, ‘it’s just that assholes attract more assholes’.

≡

Years later, when Stiles moved in with Derek, they had a problem.

Because they both still used the mug and plate, it was their favorite. But now, under the same roof, they couldn’t distinguish them anymore. Reluctantly, they stopped using them.

≡

As an engagement present, Scott got them 12 plates and 12 mugs, exactly like their favorite ones. But these were red.


	10. Valentine's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles gets everyone _platonic_ Valentine's Day cards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> most cards are from [Bored Panda: 21+ Honest Valentine's Day Cards for Unconventional Romantics](http://www.boredpanda.com/funny-valentines-day-card-ideas/)

Derek didn’t even realize what day it was. He didn’t care about Valentine’s Day, never did. Even when he was seeing something on February 14th, he treated the day like it was just another normal day.

So it came as a surprise, when Scott called him in the morning, and all but begged him to have lunch with the pack, instead of the usual dinner and movie. Derek agreed, of course, but he still asked Scott why.

‘Dude’, Scott snorted. ‘It’s Valentine’s Day. Some of us have dates planned for tonight.’

‘Oh’, Derek blinked. ‘Of course.’

Scott just laughed and hung up.

♡

Derek ordered the pizza, and brought enough plates to the desk in the loft. Everything was set when the pack started coming by.

Lydia brought a couple of bottles of wine.

Kira brought heart shaped cookies with pink frosting.

Malia was carrying three obnoxiously large helium balloons, all heart shaped.

Liam brought heart shaped lollipops.

Scott just came into loft grinning like a mad man.

And Stiles… Stiles brought Valentine’s Day cards.

♡

‘These are platonic Valentine’s Day cards, mkey?’, Stiles grinned as he handed them out. ‘Stay away from my pants, but I’m always open for hugs.’

It was so very typical Stiles, Derek couldn’t help but smile.

And the cards, they were hilarious. And adorable.

Kira’s had a cute drawing of a fox on it, and it said _Oh hey there foxy_.

She blushed, but grinned wildly at Stiles.

Liam’s said _I’d let you see my browser history_

and when he read it, the young wolf screeched in horror and covered his eyes, but he did bump his fist against Stiles’ stretched one.

Malia’s was Harry Potter themed,

because she just finished reading the series. She grinned wildly, kissing Stiles’ cheek.

Lydia’s was a monstrosity with a high number of uses of the word _bitch_ ,

but it made her grin, somewhat manically, and place an obnoxiously loud kiss to Stiles’ forehead.

Scott’s card was something fart-related, of course,

 

that prompted Scott to cling to Stiles for a couple of minutes, and made the rest of them roll their eyes.

Stiles also made sure to mention that Melissa got a card that complimented her ass,

much to Scott’s embarrassment, and so did Parrish,

much to the Sheriff’s displeasure.

♡

Derek didn’t open his card when everybody was still there.

At Stiles’ curious eyebrow raise, he shrugged, speaking in the most flat tone he could muster.

‘I’m going to open it tonight, when I lay in bed and dream of you.’

It made Stiles laugh, though, so it was okay.

♡

Derek didn’t tell him that he wanted to be alone when he opened his card, because he didn’t know how he was going to react to it. Because maybe he won’t be able to control his feelings, even if he knew the card was just a joke, and that it would be embarrassing, with other wolves in the room, who could sense his emotion. That he didn’t want anybody to know about how he cared about Stiles, truly cared about him, and about how Derek did dream about Stiles, sometimes late in the night. About Stiles sleeping next to him, about having breakfast together on late mornings, or dinners with the Sheriff. About holding hands and cuddling on the couch.

So no, Derek really didn’t want to open the stupid card with everybody else around.

♡

Derek postponed it as much as he could.

But here he was, late in the evening, on the couch, half drunk because of some carefully measured wolfsbane and a bottle of whisky, staring at the goddamn card.

He opened it, and it wasn’t at all what he expected.

It wasn’t as… professional as the other cards, it looked like it was handmade, like Stiles glues the moon and the letters on a piece of black carboard.

 _It’s not gay if it’s on the moon_ , the card said. _To: Derek, From: Stiles._

It just didn’t sit well with Derek, so before he could over think it and chicken out, he grabbed his phone and dialed Stiles.

♡

It was only when Stiles answered in a very annoyed tone, panting slightly, that Derek remembered it was Valentine’s Day, and that maybe Stiles had a date.

He cursed, and Stiles heard him, because he quickly asked Derek what was wrong.

‘Am I interrupting something?’, Derek asked, pouring himself another glass.

Stiles snorted. ‘I have been playing Bioshock for 8 hours straight. You are interrupting, but it’s a good thing, I stopped feeling my ass like, 3 hours ago.’

Derek sighed, and relaxed, glad that Stiles wasn’t out on a date. He drank the glass of whiskey in one go, trying to put his thoughts in line, unsuccessful.

‘What’s up?’, Stiles asked after a few beats of silent. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Yes’, Derek was quick to nod, even if Stiles couldn’t see him. ‘Full disclosure, though, I might be a little bit drunk.’

‘Might?’

‘Definitely’, Derek sighed.

‘Derek Hale’, Stiles breathed out, reverently and amused, ‘is drunk dialing me. Nobody is going to believe me.’

Derek ignored him.

‘So, I am okay.’, he talked fast. ‘What is not okay is your card.’

‘You didn’t like it?’, Stiles said, sadly.

‘No, Stiles, I didn’t like it’, Derek said, probably more forcefully than he should have. ‘It makes it sound like being gay is a bad thing.’

‘That’s not what I-‘, Stiles tried, but Derek didn’t let him.

‘And it’s not, it’s really not. And I realized, that in the past months, there have been moments in our conversations when you made it sound like you believed that. And that is bullshit.’

‘Hey now’, Stiles said, smoothly, ‘calm down. I just didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.’

‘Why would I feel uncomfortable?’, Derek frowned.

‘Some people do’, Stiles said and Derek could almost hear the shrug. ‘Most straight men feel weird, at first, about being around other men with different sexualities. I mean, I’m lucky, the people around me, my friends, didn’t even bat an eye when I came out as bisexual, but we, you and I, we never really… discussed it.’

When Derek didn’t say anything, Stiles continued.

‘And I didn’t want things to change between us, just because the possibility exists, of me being attracted to you. I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable.’

‘Well that’s stupid’, Derek said, still too forcefully. ‘Considering I’m bi too.’

Stiles didn’t say anything for a few long moments.

‘Really?’, he finally shrieked, voice way too high.

‘Yes, really’, Derek rolled his eyes. ‘You’re stupid and I hate you.’

‘Sure’, Stiles agreed, easily. Derek knew he didn’t believe him, at all.

‘I’m sorry, though’, Stiles continued.

‘Don’t let it happen again’, Derek growled, making Stiles laugh.

‘Sure thing, wolfman. Are you still drinking?’

Derek looked to the table, at the almost empty bottle of whisky. There was enough for two more drinks in there.

‘Maybe.’, Derek finally said.

‘All alone? That’s kind of depressing.’

‘At least I’m not drooling over fictional video games characters.’

‘That is true, yes’, Stiles laughed. ‘I’ll leave you to it. Drink lots of water tomorrow.’

‘Good night, Stiles.’, Derek mumbled, trying to keep away his smile.

‘You too, Derek’, Stiles snorted, hanging up first.

Derek stared at his phone for a bit too long. Then, he stared at the card for far too long. Then he poured himself another drink.

♡

Derek woke up the next morning with a massive headache. He was in his boxers on his bed, with no memories of getting there. His throat was dry, he needed to pee really badly, and he felt like he had been run over by a bus.

So he took a long shower, and when he came out of the bathroom, Stiles was there waiting for him, with a huge burger on a plate and a steaming cup of coffee.

‘Hungover’s a bitch, isn’t it?’, Stiles asked, amused, and he laughed when Derek just grunted and all but leaped for the food.

But Derek had enough decency to pull on a pair of sweatpants and a shirt, and to head over to the desk, taking his food and coffee with him. Stiles joined him, sitting side by side, eating his own burger and drinking orange juice.

‘So I got you another card’, Stiles grinned when they were done eating. ‘To make it up.’

Derek took it with a matching grin, and frowned when he read it.

He had to read the word out loud, slowly. The alcohol was still in his system, it seemed. Especially in his brain.

Stiles was biting his lip to keep from laughing, and when Derek understood what the card meant, he laughed too.

He also fisted a hand into Stiles’ shirt and brought him close, silencing Stiles’ affronted yelp with a kiss.

Stiles was too shocked to respond, clearly, but his heart was beating rapidly in his chest and his cheeks were flushed.

Derek waited him out. He kept a hand on Stiles’ knee, and he didn’t look away from him, smiling all the while.

‘Seriously?’, Stiles finally said after a while, grabbing a hold of Derek’s wrist and squeezing it tightly.

‘I don’t think it’s really that surprising’, Derek shrugged.

‘Maybe not for you’, Stiles all but yelped, seemingly affronted.

It just made Derek laugh.

‘I don’t believe you’, Stiles told him, sternly, even though he was still blushing furiously.

Derek shrugged and got up, bringing Stiles along with him. Then, he boldly grabbed a hold of Stiles’ waist and lifted him off the ground, and Stiles didn’t hesitate in wrapping his legs around the wolf’s waist and his hands around his neck. But Stiles was still shocked, gaping silently.

Derek kissed him again, slowly and unsure, but this time, Stiles groaned, closing his eyes and kissing him back.

The wolf carried them to his bed, slowly lowering Stiles on it and lowering himself on top of him.

Derek raised a playful eyebrow. ‘Bowchikkawowow?’

He was met with silence. Then, Stiles snorted, and pointedly rolled his hips, much to Derek’s delight.


	11. Roads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles has cousins. Small cousins, twins. Derek's surprised by their presence.   
> (Inspired by an image from [this](http://greatybuzz.tumblr.com/post/104497976255/10-dads-winning-at-fatherhood-lmao) post.)

                                                              ‖

This was not the sight Derek was expecting to be greeted with when he stepped inside of the Stilinski house.

Not at all.

He expected Stiles to be on his laptop, or reading in his bed, or cooking in the kitchen.

He wasn’t expecting Stiles to be in the living room, on the floor, with two toddlers happily playing with cars over his t-shirt. That had roads drawn on it. And little houses. And trees.

It was adorable, Derek thought before he could stop himself.

‘Who are you?’, one of the toddlers frowned at Derek.

‘Derek’, he answered slowly. ‘Who are you?’

‘I’m Eric’, the one with lighter hair said.

‘I’m Matt’, the other one said, not even lifting his head from where he was playing. They were twins, Derek realized, the only difference between them being the hair color.

‘Mommy says we shouldn’t talk to strangers’, Eric says, crossing his hands and glaring at Derek. Well, as much as a toddler could glare.

‘That’s right’, Derek nodded after a beat. ‘You shouldn’t. I’m Stiles’ friend, though.’

‘Are you lying?’, Eric asked, narrowing his eyes.

Derek took a step back. Then, he shook himself out of it and straightened his back, because he will not be intimidated by a toddler, goddamnit.

‘I’m not lying’, Derek finally said, managing to smile, a bit. ‘I just didn’t know you were here, Stiles didn’t say anything.’

Eric still glared at him for a couple of seconds more, but then he shrugged and went back to playing. With his little cars. On Stiles’ back.

‘Uh.’, Derek took another step forward. ‘So who are you?’

‘Stiles’ cousins’, Eric said, and the _d’uh_ was implied. Matt didn’t seem to care at all about what was happening around him.

Derek nodded, not knowing what more to say. He looked to Stiles, again, tuning his hearing on his heart and-

‘Is he sleeping?’, Derek finally asked, dreading the answer.

‘Yup’, Eric grinned down at his cousin, patting the back of his head. Stiles didn’t even move.

‘I’m hungry’, the other boy, Matt, said, and both toddlers turned to look at Derek expectedly.

 _Oh shit_ , Derek thought, because he didn’t remember how to deal with small children anymore. He should wake Stiles up. But he knew how exhausted Stiles was, he missed out on a lot of sleep this past week, with the pack being hunted by a witch coven and all.

So Derek sighed, and extended his hands. Both boys grinned and happily ran to him, putting their soft little hands in his, and Derek barely had time to leave a note for Stiles and text the Sheriff, before he was being hassled into tying shoes and getting jackets and walking to the closest diner.

‖

Everybody looked at him weirdly, when he entered the diner with two toddlers in his hands. Because Eric and Matt figured out he was strong, pretty early on. And they all but started crying half way through, because the diner was _so far awaaaay, Derek, our little feet hurt!_ So of course he had to lift them up and carry them the rest of the way.

He was being manipulated, Derek was aware.

But the twins were so… adorable.

So he caved in. And got them fries and orange juice. He refused the pancakes, because the fries were bad enough already, and he asked the waitress to give him all the coffee she had.

He might have been exaggerating, but he needed it.

Derek didn’t know anything about children. He didn’t remember anything from when Cora and his cousinswere little. Not much, anyway. He didn’t know how to speak with children.

Except when he did. Aparently.

He asked the twins question, making sure not to use too big words. And the boys answered, one at a time, very polite, even when they were making a mess of themselves, spilling orange juice over their shirts and wiping their greasy fingers over their pants.

So Derek found out, that their parents had to leave with their daddy’s work, _they had to leave far away, over a whole ocean!_ , Eric said, and Matt was quick to mention that it was only for a week and that they liked Stiles and Uncle Sheriff.

And Derek found out that they lived in a city that is _a billion miles away, dad drove for hours!_ , Eric complained, a city that had a huge bridge and lots of parks filled with dogs!

Then they talked for ten minutes about all the animals they liked, that quickly turned into a talk about cartoons and their favorite bedtimes stories and Derek all but begged Matt to tell him how Stiles reads them before sleep. The kid was quick to answer, telling him that his cousin always did funny voices and he danced around the room, and one time _he fell on his face, so hard that his daddy ran through the door, because he thought Stiles deaded!_

‘Died’, Derek corrected him, even though he was trying his best not to laugh. ‘He died, not deaded.’

‘Okay’, Matt nodded seriously and then, very politely, he asked Derek to take him to the bathroom and help him wash his hands.

Derek was clumsy, as he did this, but Matt and Eric took it easily, giggling and laughing at him.

And if Derek smiled down at them, there was nobody there to see. And if he carried both of them back to the house, nobody commented on it. And if he kept tickling them, and rubbing his nose in their tummies, and growling just to make them laugh and beg to be put down, well, that was Derek’s business.

‖

Stiles was still asleep when they got back. He hasn’t moved, so the kids screeched excitedly and went back to their playing.

Derek let them, sitting down on the floor next to them and joining in their game, making car noises and chasing the other two cars around.

After 10 minutes, he could see that the children were getting sleepy. Their game wasn’t as enthusiastic, and they kept trying to hide their yawns. So Derek decided to wake Stiles up, to get him to put the kids to bed.

He tried calling his name, with no success. He tried shaking him awake, and that didn’t work either. In the end, it was a somewhat gentle slap on the ass that woke Stiles up, and he almost punched Derek in the face in his haste to get up.

‘What’s happening?’, he asked, blurry eyes and confused.

‘The kids are tired’, Derek said, snickering. ‘I didn’t know where to put them to bed.’

Stiles blinked at Derek for a few seconds, seemingly not understanding. But then he said ‘guest room’, and before Stiles could even move, Derek had both the children in his hands and was telling Stiles to lead the way.

Derek helped Stiles change the boys into their pajamas, after Matt all but demanded Derek’s help. This seemed to shock Stiles, somewhat, but the wolf ignored it, for the moment, as he was too busy making little legs go into little pajama bottoms and little arms into little t-shirts.

‘Do you guys want a story?’, Stiles asked after they were done, as Derek was making his way out the door. Of course, that made the wolf stop, and he turned around, watching Stiles curiously, crossing his hands over his chest and leaning against the doorjamb.

‘No’, Eric said and Stiles’ jaw dropped in shock. ‘This Derek is better than wolf Derek.’

Stiles opened his mouth to say something, but didn’t manage it. Derek couldn’t help but grin. They just looked at each other, until Stiles forcefully shook his head, kissing his cousins on the forehead.

‘I love you, Stiles’, Matt said sleepily, and Stiles grinned, tucking the comforter tightly against his frame.

‘Love you too, buddy. You too, Eric. Now go to sleep.’

Derek stepped out of the way, Stiles gently closing the door behind him.

‘It’s still weird seeing you smile’, Stiles said in a slightly disturbed tone, making Derek realize that he was, in fact, still smiling.

He composed himself, willing his face into a more neutral expression.

Stiles didn’t say anything more, he just sighed and rubbed at his eyes, heading back downstairs and silently motioning for Derek to follow.

They were silent as Stiles made a pot of coffee in the kitchen, Derek sitting down at the table. There was a bowl of fruits on the table, and he ate a banana while Stiles fixed their coffees.

‘Why are you here?’, Stiles finally said, wordlessly putting a plate of sushi in front of Derek.

He was hungry, so he didn’t hesitate in eating a few pieces. Stiles patiently waited him out, sipping from his coffee and not taking his eyes off Derek. He didn’t seem pissed, the wolf was glad to realize. But he still looked exhausted.

‘I wanted to check up on you’, Derek said after he finished eating. ‘The witches did a number on you.’

Stiles snorted, highly sarcastic. ‘Putting a spell on me that stopped me from sleeping for three days straight, yeah, you can say that again.’

Derek sighed. ‘That’s why I didn’t wake you.’

‘But you did’, Stiles frowned.

‘Only after I took the twins out for lunch.’

Stiles’ jaw dropped. ‘You did what?’

Derek shrugged. ‘It wasn’t a big deal. We walked to the diner, and I only got them fries and orange juice.’

Stiles was staring, seemingly in shock, making Derek feel oddly uncomfortable.

‘It’s not a big deal’, he tried again. ‘They were okay, they’re very well raised. Polite. And smart. Uh… I don’t remember much, about dealing with children, but I think I did okay.’

That finally snapped Stiles out of it, and he took a deep breath.

‘Thank you. I can’t believe I didn’t woke up.’

‘You’re exhausted’, Derek raised an eyebrow. ‘You still are. It’s understandable.’

‘Still’, Stiles said pointedly, ‘you didn’t have to do that.’

Derek blinked, surprised by the strength and anger radiating from Stiles.

‘Are you upset that I did?’, he found himself asking, and Stiles instantly grew pale.

‘No’, he stammered out. ‘No, that’s not it, thank you for taking care of them, I just…’, he sighed.

‘What?’, Derek pushed, when Stiles didn’t continue.

‘Thank you’, he said sincerely. ‘I’m just exhausted and the world feels wrong.’

Derek didn’t know how to answer to that. It wasn’t the first time he saw a more vulnerable side of Stiles, but he still hated witnessing it. Because in his mind, Stiles wasn’t supposed to be like this. Stiles was supposed to be sarcastic and funny, standing tall even when he shouldn’t. He was supposed to be strong, not defeated like this.

‘Go to bed’, Derek found himself saying, the softness of his tone surprising even himself. ‘I’ll wake you up when the twins do.’

Stiles growled, frustrated. ‘You don’t have to do that, I can-‘

‘But I want to do it’, Derek replied, calmly, shocking Stiles into silence. ‘I think the twins manipulated me into liking them, just like you did. So go to bed, while I raid your dvd collection.’

Stiles stared, again, with his jaw dropped.

‘Do you want me to knock you out?’, Derek deadpanned, and Stiles all but ran up to his room.

Derek cleaned up after them in the kitchen, he towed off his shoes and put the first season of the X-Files in the dvd player, getting comfortable on the couch.

It occurred to him, that there was absolutely no reason for him to do this. For him to stick around while Stiles and the twins are sleeping. Stiles could handle himself.

But the boy was exhausted, Derek argued with himself. He didn’t hear Derek come into the house, and he wouldn’t hear someone else either. So Derek was just keeping them safe.

Maybe if he said it often enough, he’d end up believing it.

‖

Derek woke up slowly.

The scent of Stiles was the first thing he noticed. Only after he opened up his eyes he realized that Stiles was sitting next to him on the couch, his feet curled up to his chest and their sides were pressed together.

Then, he noticed that the twins were sitting down on the floor, on the other side of the coffee table, silently making a mess of coloring books.

‘Stay for dinner’, Stiles whispered, startling Derek. ‘Dad’s making lasagna.’

Derek stared at him. Stiles put a hand over his. Derek started at it.

‘You tell them stories about wolf Derek?’, the wolf asked, and Stiles’ lips twitched, in sync with his hand tightening its hold on Derek’s.

‘They always liked Derek better than Scott, for some reason’, Stiles shrugged.

‘I need someone to help me set the table’, the Sheriff yelled form the kitchen, and Derek wanted to get up, but Stiles didn’t let him.

Instead, the twins screeched happily and ran out of the living room.

‘That’s always their job’, Stiles explained, his voice still whispered. ‘They like that we have colored plates and things, they always choose different colored everything. It’s like a unicorn barfed over the kitchen table.’, he snorted.

Then Stiles got up, linking his fingers properly with Derek, pulling him up with a surprising amount of strength.

Derek went with it. He went with it until his lips met Stiles’.

It was a simple kiss. Short and dry, Stiles’ lips moving twice against his, making the wolf’s heart beat faster.

It should have surprised Derek. It didn’t. Instead, it only brought him a sense of relief. He didn’t realize that he was waiting for it. But now, he felt lighter, a sense of warm flooding all his senses. So Derek squeezed Stiles’ fingers, and smiled against his lips.

When he moved away, Stiles was smiling too. He didn’t say anything, he just dragged Derek into the kitchen.

‖

The Sheriff didn’t even bat an eye upon seeing their linked hands, or their blushed cheeks. Instead, he smiled warmly at Derek, and told him that Ms. Dewley from the diner sent him pictures of Derek and the twins.

The twins were too busy getting lasagna all over themselves to say anything.

‖

That night, Stiles fell asleep with Derek’s lips on his neck, and his finger gently tracing the roads on the t-shirt Stiles was still wearing.


	12. texts of denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles regrets the day he showed his father how to text. Especially when he keeps insinuating there's something going on between him and Derek.  
> Five times Stiles denied it. And one time he didn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by these various funny text posts: [one](http://felicitysmock.tumblr.com/post/114346883842/mrs-danny-gold-dominodamsel-au-ideas-from), [two](http://tylermccallscottposey.tumblr.com/post/113329301918/greatybuzz-10-parents-who-are-clearly-way-better), [three](http://smosh.tumblr.com/post/115050345344/aleeyago-clvbpenguin-iphones-need-to-be).

**one**

Dad: How’s the pack meeting going?  
Me: Terrible I want to stab everybody here  
Dad: Okay just don’t get any blood on your clothes  
Me: You’re a sheriff, you shouldn’t be condoning this  
Dad: Don’t tell me how to live my life  
Me: Don’t ever say that again  
Me: Derek says hi  
Me: And then he yelled at me for not paying attention  
Me: Now he’s glaring with disappointment  
Me: This is all your fault  
Dad: Don’t blame your foreplay on me

When Stiles got home that night, he just glared at his father for a long while. The Sheriff ignored it, at first, but after 10 full minutes, he sighed.

‘What is it, Stiles?’

‘Why would you say that?’, the boy glared. ‘What in the hell possessed you to say that?’

The Sheriff raised an eyebrow. ‘Well the obvious flirting and awkward sexual tension were some of the reasons.’

Stiles spluttered, for a long while, flailing and blushing, muttering things like ‘no’, ‘not happening’, and ‘what even’. The Sheriff just sighed and left the room.

 

**Two**

Me: I want to punch him in the eye. With a rusty fork.  
Me: Well this is awkward. I didn’t mean to text that to you. Hi dad.  
Dad: Lol, Stiles. Don’t forget to wear gloves, keep the fingerprints off the fork, even if it is a rusty one.  
Me: My favorite part of this is how you don’t even question who it is.  
Dad: And you should remember that werewolves would heal from a rusty fork to the eye.

When Stiles got home that night, the Sheriff asked him why did he chose a rusty fork.

‘Because he doesn’t have anything else around’, Stiles rolled his eyes.

‘Of course it’s Derek.’, the Sheriff sighed, making Stiles glare.

‘Yes, dad, yes, yes it’s Derek!’, he said, angrily. ‘There is no one on this Earth I hate more than that stupid asshole and I want to take his eye out, so that he could grow it back and I can do it again.’

The Sheriff smiled. ‘Trouble in paradise?’

Stiles just groaned, pulled at his hair, and went to his room.

 

**Three**

Me: Guess who got arrested for public drunkiness, and called jimmy johns for the entire station last night instead of someone to bail me out? The cop that arrested me drove me home. Win.  
Dad: Stiles, Derek called me the second he “arrested” you. He took you to the station to sober you up, not to arrest you.  
Me: I am very sad right now.  
Dad: I really don’t want to know about your fetishes.

Stiles waited for two days to say something. And when he did, his voice was low, no sign of sarcasm in it.

‘Why do you keep assuming that? Between me and Derek?’

The Sheriff stared, incredulously. ‘Kid, if you don’t see it, you’re dumber than you think.’

‘But there’s nothing there.’, Stiles tried.

‘Yes there is’, his father sighed. ‘Look better’.

 

**Four**

Me: When you get home in the morning, don’t freak out but  
Me: Derek got super hurt fighting an Alpha  
Me: He’s going to be okay, but I left him sleeping on the couch  
Me: Deaton said he’ll heal till morning, but Derek was really out of it  
Me: He woke up disoriented, looked at me, said “oh, you’re hot”  
Me: And went back to sleep  
Me: Just letting you know  
Me: So you won’t freak out  
Me: Or judge him for whatever other idiocy he says  
Me: I’m pretty sure he’s high on werewolf morphine  
Me: Thank you. In advance.

When the Sheriff got home the next morning, Derek was still asleep on the couch. And Stiles was sleeping on the floor next to the couch, his fingers wrapped around Derek’s wrist.

Nobody said anything about it.

 

**Five**

Dad: Hey you need to be looking for jobs remember  
Me: Anal  
Dad: :O  
Me: I AM *** I MEANT I AM  
Dad: I really don’t want to know. Keep in between you and Derek.

Stiles drove to the station after that.

‘This needs to stop’, he glared at his father.

‘I’m really not doing anything.’

‘Yes you are’, Stiles raised his voice. ‘And it needs to stop before-‘

He was cut off before finishing because Derek came into the office, with a stack of reports the Sheriff needed to sign. And that was the end of the conversation, because Stiles left to have lunch with Derek.

 

**Plus one**

Me: So you know that thing that was so not happening, but you insisted it was in fact happening and I kept denying that it was happening?  
Dad: I know you and Derek got together..  
Dad: And I am happy for you  
Dad: But you need to buy me some noise canceling ear plugs.  
Dad: Or move out of the house.  
Dad: That one’s better, actually.  
Dad: I’d get to eat everything I’d want.  
Dad: And have Melissa over without feeling weird about it.  
Me: I regret everything about this conversation.


	13. Trust the human to take you home again.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Purgatory.   
> /temporary!death trigger warning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found this in the debts of my tumblr. It has a [gifset](http://sssssssim.tumblr.com/post/47973599371/truth-be-told-stiles-and-derek-were-junkies-they) too.

Truth be told, Stiles and Derek were junkies. They couldn’t live without one another.

And it wasn’t just about how they always saved each other’s lives, but about how they couldn’t let one day pass without a touch or a caress.  About how Derek would come to Stiles’ room late at night just so they could rest together for a few nightmareless hours. About how Stiles always made sure Derek would sit next to him whenever they were in the same room. About how they trusted each other and always took the important decisions together. About how Stiles would know Derek was getting angry and would put a firm hand on the back of his neck to calm him. About how Derek made Stiles synchronize their breaths when the boy felt like he couldn’t breathe. About how they held hands when they ran. About how the other wolves couldn’t distinguish their scents anymore, they were always mingled.

They were addicted to each other. Because they made each other better, they were healing together, old wounds they never thought would close.

They fought together, monsters in the dark and witches in the light. Bruised and bloody, they survived. Until one of them didn’t.

Until a demon possessed Derek. Stiles figured it out, of course he did. But this time, he was too late. Stiles watched as the demon, even though he was in the middle of a devil’s trap, calmly pulled out a wolfsbane flower out of his pocket. Out of Derek’s pocket. He ignored Stiles’ pleads and threats, laughed at his declarations of love, and swallowed the purple flower before anybody could do anything. 

Stiles yelled the exorcism over and over, the demon did leave Derek’s body, but the wolf didn’t survive. Derek was dead. Stiles failed in saving him. He couldn’t live without him.

He knew the story, they all did. Werewolves had no right to Heaven or Hell, creatures of the supernatural were compelled to spend their after-life in Purgatory, fighting other monsters. Forever. Stiles couldn’t let Derek do that. Not alone, not while he was stuck on Earth, without him. 

So he did the only thing he could do. He researched and found a possible solution. He said his goodbyes. He hugged his father and his friends, kissed his mothers’ grave and armed himself as well as he could. He met the Reaper and did the spell.

After he stepped through the gates of Purgatory, it took a week for Derek to find him. Stiles was exhausted and bloodied, having killed more monsters in these 7 days than he thought it was possible.

Derek looked at him like he was the moon, the most impossible and beautiful thing that existed. They were in Purgatory, Stiles was wearing Derek’s clothes and they were surrounded by vampire corpses.

Derek didn’t come alone. It wasn’t his whole family, because humans didn’t usually get into Purgatory. Stiles smiled when his eyes locked with Laura, Derek’s parents and his aunt. He looked at her and lowered his head.

‘Peter says hello. He is sorry that he hasn't joined you yet. He also said that he has yet to figure out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop. He promised that once he’ll find the answer, he will come running.’

Derek was crying, holding his sister’s hand tight.

Laura’s voice was determined, but her eyes were so incredibly sad. ‘He doesn’t believe you’re real, you know. How could you be? You’re human, your kind do not get to come here. And survive it.’

‘He also doesn’t want to believe you’re dead.’, his mother added in a soft tone.

Stiles smiled and looked into Derek’s eyes. When he spoke, it was barely a whisper. Werewolves didn’t need more than that.

‘Oh, Derek, I did tell you. I told you I’ll follow you into the dark. I told you to wait for me, Sourwolf, cause I’ll be coming. And I did, I came for you, babe. And we’ll go on together. Because this place… it isn’t for us. Derek, they need you. Just as much as I need you.’ Stiles smiled and looked at the wolf’s family. ‘And as much as you need them.’ He took a step forward, and cut a deep slash on his forearms. He threw the knife on the ground and gave Derek’s father a piece of paper, a spell. He smiled, confident and happy. ‘So come on, Hales. Trust the human to take you home again.’


	14. it started with a jeep running Derek over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [@battlships](http://battlships.tumblr.com/) wanted something based off [this post](http://cisco--ramon.tumblr.com/post/117028219312/a-guy-almost-just-ran-me-over-and-he-rolls-down): _A guy almost just ran me over and he rolls down the window to say “sorry, I confused you with someone” and I’m just like were you actually gonna run over someone?_
> 
> It starts from there, goes on to other things. (I had no particular idea in mind, so here's 6600 words of random stuffs, featuring a lot of Cora and some Laura).

To be fair, Derek had a lot on his mind.

He was just leaving Deaton’s, where he spent a few hours talking with him about fairies. They had a treaty with the Hale pack for years, but now they wanted to re-do it and change the conditions.

And of course, this happened exactly when his parents were driving Laura to New York, and they left him in charge.

Derek had a headache. And quite alarming levels of anxiety.

That’s why he didn’t see the car. Or hear it.

But he felt it, when the car collided with his hip, hard enough to throw him to the ground.

When he got his bearings back, Derek heard a very annoyed voice.

‘Asshole’, a male voice was saying, ‘that’ll show you ever to mess with me again. Stupid son of a- … Oh.’

The driver couldn’t have been a lot younger than Derek, just a couple of years. He was looking at Derek with a deer caught in the headlights expression, gaping wordlessly. His lips were pretty, Derek absently thought.

‘Sorry dude’, the boy snapped out of it, helping Derek to his feet. ‘I thought you were someone else.’

Derek froze at that, glaring at him. ‘You were planning on running someone over?’

‘I wasn’t planning’, the boy rolled his eyes. ‘But the opportunity arose itself, so I took it.’

‘Are you insane?’, Derek deadpanned, not believing what he was hearing.

The guy just shrugged.

Thankfully, Deaton came out of the clinic then, sighing at the sight of them.

‘Are you hurt?’, he asked Derek, even if he knew the answer.

‘I’m fine.’, he grunted. ‘He’s insane, though.’

‘That, I know’, Deaton sighed. ‘Stiles, what are you doing here? Scott’s not working today.’

The boy, Stiles apparently, grinned. ‘I know that, but Dad sent me to get the drug doggie.’

Deaton rolled his eyes. ‘Her name is Astor and she’s a trained police dog. Come on in, then.’, Deaton turned around without even looking at Derek.

‘Sorry, again’, Stiles said, awkwardly patting Derek’s shoulder. ‘I’ll be more careful next time.’

‘You do that’, Derek mumbled. Stiles chuckled in response, before turning around and following Deaton inside.

+++

Derek kept seeing Stiles around town. At the grocery store, in front of the police station, at the library, at the diner.

Stiles never saw him, Derek made sure of that, but he found himself … looking.

Stiles was attractive. Tall and thin, but Derek could see some definition under the layers upon layers of plaid. Anybody could hear Stiles from miles away, because he spoke loud and fast. It was annoying, Derek thought, but at the same time, he found it soothing.

He also smelled really nice. Like the woods after rain, and cinnamon, which was weird, because Derek grew up associating that smell with magic. But still, Derek liked it, a bit too much to feel comfortable.

After two weeks of seeing Stiles almost daily, Derek felt like a creep. So even if he kept bumping into him in town, he tried to get away from Stiles as fast as possible.

Of course, that was easier said than done.

One day, he picked Cora up from school, and she convinced him to go to her favorite coffee shop and buy her a frappucino. No, Derek wasn’t a softie for his sisters, no matter what everybody else said, but he wanted some coffee too, that’s the only reason he agreed.

He smelt Stiles before he saw him, even before going into the coffee shop. As soon as they were in, Stiles yelled a very obnoxious and fake heartfelt _Cooooooora_.

Derek panicked. Cora sighed.

‘Stiles’, she said curtly, as he made his way towards her. Stiles didn’t stop until he was hugging Cora tightly and he even kissed her cheek.

Derek was just staring, willing his sister not to pick up on his elevated heart beat.

‘How is my queen today?’, Stiles asked Cora sweetly, without even looking at Derek. ‘The fire of my heart, the most wonderful woman in the history of the world.’

Cora didn’t even blink. ‘You’re not cute, you know.’

‘I am cute’, Stiles pouted. ‘And you love me.’

To Derek’s horror, Stiles kissed Cora again, over and over again, on both her cheeks and forehead. It took a while, for Cora to push him aside, but she was smiling as she did so.

‘What are you doing here?’, Cora finally asked.

‘Donuts for dad.’

Cora scrunched up her nose. ‘Isn’t that too stereotypical?’

‘Oh, it is.’, Stiles shrugged. ‘It’s also sugary goodness, and my dad’s allowed once a week.’

Cora laughed. ‘Of course he is. Well, we won’t keep you.’ She pointedly used the word ‘we’, and it was only then when Stiles turned to Derek, blinking a couple of times.

‘How are the bruises?’, he asked nonchalantly, raising an eyebrow.

‘Gone’, Derek gruffly said, making his sister raise a very interested eyebrow.

‘Good, good. Well’, Stiles grinned , bending down to kiss Cora again. ‘See you tomorrow, sweetie. Derek.’, he nodded, and Derek was very surprised that he knew his name.

He managed to snap out of it fairly quickly, turning his attention to Cora.

‘Boyfriend?’, he asked with authority, making her roll her eyes.

‘Not even close.’

‘Does he know that?’

Cora snorted. ‘Yes he does. It’s fine, he’s just crazy, and oddly protective. Now, bruises? Explain.’

Derek shrugged. ‘He ran me over with his jeep a couple of weeks ago.’

Cora’s jaw dropped.

‘Said he thought I was someone else.’, Derek explained.

‘Ah’, Cora nodded. ‘Sounds like him. He’s a good driver, though. Surprisingly. Wouldn’t say that, considering how many tickets his dad gets him out of.’

‘Dad?’, Derek asked.

‘Sheriff Stilinski’, Cora said slowly.

Derek just blinked, remembering the man who came by to speak with his mother sometimes. 'Oh', he managed to say.

‘So are we not going to mention your heart beat just about now?’, Cora bumped their shoulders together.

Derek pointedly ignored her, going over the counter to get their coffees, even as Cora snickered.

+++

‘Derek has a crush on Stiles’, Cora announced that night at dinner, making Derek glare at her with all the hate he could gather.

‘I do not. I didn’t even properly meet the kid.’

‘Well, he met you’, Cora pointed out. ‘I never talk about you, but he knows your name.’

‘He’s insane’, Derek said with finality.

‘You used to like him when you were little’, his mother said, making Derek turn to look sharply at her.

‘Laura used to babysit Stiles’, she explained with a smile. ‘You weren’t very social when you were little, but you always indulged Stiles, more than you did your sister, and played with him.’

Derek couldn’t think of anything to say. Cora started laughing, pretty hysterically, and his parents soon followed.

‘He’s a good kid’, Derek’s father said. ‘Been through a lot, but he always comes up with a smile on his face.’

‘Yes’, Talia agreed. ‘The Sheriff raised him very well.’

‘Why are we even having this conversation?’, Derek groaned. ‘He said Cora was the queen of his heart.’

‘He’s just messing around’, she rolled her eyes. ‘I don’t know why I let him.’

‘We should have him over for dinner’, Talia says, making both her children say ‘no’. And that was the end of that discussion.

+++

Derek kept seeing Stiles around town.

Sometimes he was alone, sometimes he was with a boy with olive skin and a mop of hair, sometimes with a very beautiful redhead that acted like everybody was beneath her.

He always said ‘hello’ to Derek, or waved at him if they were too far away. Derek was polite about it, but never stuck around to actually talk with him.

+++

One time, as Derek was putting groceries in his trunk, he heard a car coming by his back, and it didn’t stop until it hit him, gently, in the ass.

He turned around, a curse on his lips, only to find Stiles’ blue jeep, with Stiles grinning like a mad man behind the wheel.

‘See? I was gentle this time.’, he laughed, and Derek couldn’t say much, so he showed him the finger and went back to his groceries.

Stiles didn’t stick around, but he kept laughing well after he went into the store.

+++

A couple of weeks later, during a pretty bad storm, there was a knock on the front door, late at night.

And another, and another, and another, increasing in intensity. Derek was the closest to the door, so he went to open it, even if the rain made him unable to smell anything.

Stiles was on the porch, soaking wet, holding up the guy Derek saw him with around town.

‘What-‘, Derek tried, but Stiles didn’t let him.

‘He’s been bitten by a werewolf’, he said with urgency, and Derek heard his mother gasp from upstairs. ‘I need your help.’

‘There’s…. no such thing as werewolves’, Derek said slowly.

Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘Yes there are, you’re a werewolf, Cora’s a werewolf, your whole family are werewolves, and now I’m pretty sure Scott is gonna become one, and he’s bleeding’, he was yelling by this point, ‘and I’m freaking out so is your mother home? Cause I’m about to have a panic attack.’

‘Calm down, Stiles’, Talia’s even voice came from behind Derek. ‘Derek, living room’, she ordered, and he was quick to comply.

He got Scott out of Stiles’ hands, even if he was reluctant to let go, and carried him to the couch.

Talia looked Scott over for a few minutes, time which Stiles spent biting on his nails and shivering, his heart going a mile a minute.

‘He’s turning’, Talia said, looking with reassurance at Stiles. ‘He’ll be okay.’

‘He’ll be a werewolf!’, Stiles yelled.

‘The alternative was death’, Derek said, and he regretted it, because Stiles’ color drained from his face.

‘We’ll help him’, Talia said without any hesitation, ‘but he’ll sleep for a while.’

‘I’m not leaving’, Stiles said strongly, even if he was still shivering.

‘I know’, Talia smiled. ‘Go take a shower, Derek will get you clothes. I’ll watch Scott.’

‘Thank you’, Stiles breathed out, turning around and walking out the door quickly. Derek followed.

They were silent as Derek led him to his bedroom, Stiles didn’t seem to look at his surroundings. He showered quickly, and Derek’s heart jumped at the sight of Stiles in his clothes. But Stiles didn’t pause, going straight back to the living room.

Cora was on the couch now, Scott’s head pillowed in her lap, and she was running her fingers through his hair. Derek has never seen her do something as comforting as that, he barely got a hug out of his sister.

But as she heard them come in, Cora quickly went to Stiles’ side, hugging him tightly, letting him tuck his face into the crook of her neck.

‘He’ll be okay’, she whispered. ‘I promise.’

‘I know’, Stiles sighed. ‘I trust you. I just… I can’t…’

‘You’re afraid’, Talia said reverently, making them stop hugging. ‘It’s normal.’

‘I’m not afraid of you’, Stiles said, somewhat bashfully. ‘I know you’d never do anything to hurt us. I’m scared _for_ him.’

‘Good’, Talia nodded, ‘that will make things easier from now on. But I must ask, how did you know? Did Cora tell you?’

‘No’, he shook his head, and he said the truth. ‘I figured it out a couple of years back.’

‘How?’, it was Derek that asked, but Stiles only shrugged.

‘I just did.’

‘Very well’, Talia closed that conversation, surprisingly. ‘I’m going to bed, Scott will most likely sleep through the night. Cora, Derek, make sure one of you is with them at all times.’

They both nodded, and as soon as Talia was out the door, Stiles was on the couch, taking Cora’s previous place. She then sat on the floor next to the couch and turned on the tv, and Derek, reluctantly, sat next to her.

+++

Cora fell asleep pretty quickly, with her head on Derek’s thigh. Scott slept peacefully through the night, his wound slowly closing, and Stiles fell asleep sometimes, but woke up pretty quickly. Derek spent the night watching an NCIS marathon, on mute with the subtitles on.

Scott woke up a bit after dawn, gasping, and in his panic, he somehow managed to climb over the couch and fall on the other side of it. He woke Stiles up, who screamed.

When they both stopped panicking, they looked at each other for a while.

‘Yer a werewolf, Harry’, Stiles deadpanned.

Scott had no answer to that, but he did rush to hug Stiles for a long time, long enough for Talia and Derek’s father to come down.

Derek and Cora were ushered away, while their parents spoke with Stiles and Scott in the office. That was soundproof, so Derek was frustrated that he couldn’t hear what they were saying.

They were in there for a long while, considering Derek took a three hour nap, woke up, exercised and took a shower.

Then Stiles knocked on his door, with Cora and Scott right behind, bringing a tray of food and coffee. Derek reluctantly let them eat on his bed, but they were silent for most of it.

‘So’, Cora cautiously said as they finished the food, ‘do I get a new brother?’

Scott wrinkled his nose. ‘They’re not adopting me, your mother was pretty clear that being a part of your pack didn’t necessarily mean that.’

‘But you are’, Derek insisted, ‘a part of the pack?’

‘We both are’, Stiles nodded.

That surprised Cora and Derek both, and they turned to stare at him.

‘What?’, he asked a bit defensively. ‘Where Scott goes, I go. Plus, I figured it out all on my own, and Deaton’s pretty sure I’m magic.’

Derek looked to Cora. ‘That explains the cinnamon.’

She nodded.

‘What?’, Stiles frowned. ‘No, that doesn’t explain anything. What cinnamon?’

‘You smell like cinnamon’, Scott frowned, taking a deep breath. ‘And like the woods.’

Stiles was watching him with a particularly disturbed expression.

‘And like… a candle burning.’

‘That’s anxiety’, Derek pointed out.

‘You can smell anxiety?’, Stiles gaped.

‘We can smell anything’, Cora explained, ‘way better than humans. But it takes a while to get used to it, especially the chemo signals.’

‘Back to the cinnamon, though.’, Scott said. ‘What about it?’

‘Magic smell like cinnamon’, Cora told him.

‘I am going to have so many questions’, Stiles whined, leaning down on the bed.

‘I’m going to be bad at this’, Scott whined right back.

‘We’ll help you’, Derek said as supportively as he could. ‘That’s what pack is for.’

‘That, and running naked in the moonlight’, Cora said in a straight voice.

Stiles yelped, looking very frightened at her, both hands coming down over his crotch, but Scott only narrowed his eyes, looking at her chest.

‘That was a lie.’

‘Yup.’, she grinned. ‘See, there’s still hope for you, pup.’

Scott blushed, making Derek and Stiles laugh.

Then, somehow, the discussion evolved into one of werewolves on screen and in games, and Stiles had a lot of opinions, which Derek shared, but Cora didn’t.

Stiles and Scott stayed for lunch, and they both bombarded Talia and her husband with more questions. Then, Derek and Cora took them for a walk in the woods, and they still had questions to ask.

They only left at about 9pm, when the Sheriff called, mildly concerned.

After they were at a safe distance, considering Scott’s hearing, Cora turned to look at Derek.

‘That was surprisingly pleasant.’

‘I thought they were your friends’, Derek raised an eyebrow.

‘Not really’, she shrugged. ‘They helped me once before, but we just knew each other from school. Stiles is like a leech.’

She hesitated for a while, but Derek waited her out.

‘They’re my friends now, though.’

‘Good’, he smiled, ‘cause Scott’s going to need our help.’

‘And Stiles would go mental without us’, she smirked.

Their mother came out of the kitchen, then. ‘So I don’t have to give you the speech, about how they’re pack and be nice to them and help them, because they need it?’

Derek and Cora both shook their heads.

‘Good’, Talia nodded. ‘I’m going to go call Laura, she is going to love this.’

+++

Laura did love it. So much so, that she flew to Beacon Hills the first weekend.

What she found was surprising.

She found Scott being able to control his shift, even if he was only bitten for three days. The only thing he had trouble with were his eyes, but it wasn’t a big problem.

She also found Cora, acting like a teenager for the first time. She bickered with Stiles and Scott, more often than not slipping into harmless flirting.

And she found Derek, who kept his attention focused on Scott. He trained with him daily, helped him with the shift, taught him how to block out noises and smells. He was weirdly focused on Scott, Laura thought.

But after a whispered conversation with Cora, she understood what Derek was doing. He was keeping himself focused on Scott, so that he wouldn’t have to think about Stiles. Cora said he wasn’t doing it consciously. A crush, Cora said. Laura thought it had to be something bigger than that, to scare Derek this way.

Because he seemed frightened. Scared of being left alone with Stiles, of being the subject of his teasing, of having to talk to him. But, on the other hand, Laura also saw that Derek was afraid of disappointing Stiles, that’s why he did his best with Scott.

Before Laura left, she hugged Stiles and Scott both and told them that she is sorry for what happened to them, but that she was happy they were part of her pack.

Then, she not so kindly told Derek that he was an idiot for over thinking things. He didn’t look like he had any idea what she was talking about, but Laura was certain he’ll figure it out eventually.

+++

A week and a half after Scott was bitten, Stiles showed up at the house one morning, after Cora left for school.

Derek was the only one home, so he tried to be stern, about Stiles skipping school, but he waved it off quickly.

‘I was hoping to catch your mom before she left for work.’, Stiles explained, while making himself at home in the kitchen and brewing coffee.

‘She has the day off’, Derek yawned. ‘So she’s at the farmers’ market.’

‘I’ll wait’, was all Stiles said, before pouring himself and Derek a cup of coffee, and silently sitting down at the table.

After a few minutes, when Derek managed to wake up, he noticed things. The way Stiles’ leg was bouncing up and down, the way his heart beat was just a bit elevated, the bead of sweat on his temple.

‘What’s wrong?’, Derek finally asked, startling Stiles.

‘Nothing’, he was quick to deny, but his heart skipped a beat.

Derek didn’t say anything more, he just glared Stiles down. Who, to Derek’s immense surprise, slumped down and looked away.

‘I just wanted to ask Talia something.’

‘Can I help you with it?’, Derek asked with a lot more hesitation than before. ‘Maybe I know the answer.’

Stiles bit on his lower lip, and when he looked up at Derek, he seemed afraid.

‘Deaton told me that only an Alpha can change someone.’

Derek blinked. ‘Yes, but-‘

‘Your mother never told us that’, Stiles interrupted, sharply. ‘You didn’t either.’

‘I thought…’, Derek shook his head. ‘You never asked and I’m sure my mother told you. It’s… She wouldn’t have forgotten to tell you that. You probably just didn’t hear it.’

Stiles sighed. ‘In that case, what happened to the Alpha that bit Scott?’

Derek froze.

‘Yeah’, Stiles said after a beat. ‘My thoughts exactly.’

‘Shit’, Derek felt the need to say, to which Stiles nodded vehemently.

They were completely silent for the next half hour, but Derek made pancakes and Stiles ate them.

Talia figured out something was wrong the second she caught sight of them, so Derek took the grocery bags from her and started putting things away, letting Stiles do the talking.

‘I need to talk to you’, he said slowly, and Talia was quick to offer the office.

‘No’, Stiles shook his head. ‘That’s okay, I don’t mind Derek being here. In fact I want him here, he’ll pick it up if you’re lying.’

Talia bristled at that, and so did Derek.

‘It didn’t take me long’, Stiles went on in a harsh tone, ‘to figure it out after Deaton told me that only an Alpha could have turned Scott.’

‘I didn’t bite him’, Talia said, appalled.

‘I know’, Stiles shook his head. ‘But you also hid that information from us. You either did that to protect Scott, because the Alpha is still out there and he’s coming for him, or to protect the Alpha, because you know who it was and you’re defending him.’

‘I don’t like your tone’, Talia said harshly after a slight pause.

‘I’m being very rude’, Stiles nodded. ‘And reckless, considering you could kill me in a heartbeat, but you wouldn’t do that.’

‘Of course I wouldn’t’, she said in a softer tone.

‘But you lied to us.’, Stiles went on. ‘And I don’t like being lied to, especially when it’s concerning Scott’s safety.’

Talia sighed, sitting down at the table and taking a sip of coffee from Derek’s cup.

‘You’re right’, she finally said. ‘I lied to protect Scott. But he’s safe now, because we found the Alpha the day after he was bit and killed him.’

Derek startled at that, Stiles didn’t.

‘Why?’, he asked.

‘Because he went rogue. Not everybody can handle the power of being an Alpha.’, Talia explained. ‘And he was alone, he must have lost his pack, and that would drive every Alpha to insanity.’

‘So it was a mercy kill’, Stiles summed up.

Talia nodded.

‘And Scott is safe’, he went on.

‘I will always protect Scott’, Talia said with power seeping through, her eyes flashing. ‘We will always protect our pack.’

‘Thank you’, Stiles breathed out, his tense body relaxing. ‘I’m sorry, but… I understand that you’re in charge, and that you can’t tell us everything. But, please, don’t lie to us like that again. We can take it.’

To Derek’s surprise, his mother looked to him at that. He didn’t say anything, but she nodded.

‘Scott may be stronger than you, because he’s a wolf, but you’re a force to be reckoned with, aren’t you?’, Talia smiled, teasing.

Stiles grinned. ‘There’s a deputy who keeps saying that I would make a perfect criminal mastermind.’

Derek snorted, and Stiles winked at him.

‘So uh’, Stiles went on, ‘speaking of Scott, do you think he’ll be okay going to prom next week?’

Talia turned to Derek.

‘Yes’, he nodded. ‘He doesn’t have any control problems.’

‘Has he found his anchor?’, she asked, making Derek smile.

‘I don’t think _he_ figured it out yet, but I did.’

‘It’s me, isn’t it?’, Stiles asked, oddly soft.

‘Yeah’, Derek chuckled. ‘His mother, too. And your father, a bit. I think. So prom shouldn’t be any problem.’

‘Good’, Talia smiled. ‘I always thought children should be children, werewolf or not.’

Derek rolled his eyes, having heard that line all of his life.

‘In that case’, Stiles went on, ‘I’m also here to ask for your permission to take Cora to prom.’

Derek’s jaw fell. Talia seemed surprised, too, if not a bit amused.

‘You want to date Cora?’, she asked, slowly.

‘No’, Stiles snickered, ‘she’d eat me faster than a popsicle. But boys our age are stupid, and they don’t see how amazing she is. So she hasn’t got a date.’

‘And you’re sacrificing your date for Cora?’, Derek’s mother insisted.

‘It’s not a sacrifice’, Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘I genuinely like hanging out with Cora, you know. Plus, it’s not like I have a lot of dates lining up.’

‘Oh, teenagers’, Talia chuckled, making both Stiles and Derek glare at her. ‘But of course you have my permission, Stiles’, she went on. ‘You didn’t even need to ask. But you do need to ask her.’

‘Of course’, Stiles grinned. ‘I’ll go do just that.’

He walked halfway through the door, before he turned around and said a proper goodbye to Talia, and grinned at Derek.

‘Thanks for the pancakes, dude.’

‘Don’t call me dude’, it was a knee jerk reaction for Derek already. It just made Stiles laugh.

After they heard the sound of Stiles’ jeep leaving the driveway, Talia turned to look at Derek with a questioning expression.

‘He’s something else’, was all she said.

‘He scared me today’, Derek admitted.

‘You always seem scared of him’, his mother smiled. ‘But yes, this was different.’

‘I’m not…’, Derek tried. ‘I’m don’t think I’m scared of him.’

Talia hummed. ‘Laura thinks you’re scared of _yourself_ , when he’s around.’

Derek frowned.

‘Oh, sweetheart’, Talia laughed. ‘You’ll figure it out.’

Derek spent a better part of the day frowning, even though he didn’t reach any conclusion.

+++

On prom day, Derek was in charge of taking pictures of Cora and sending them to Laura, who couldn’t get away from work to be there.

He grumbled about it a lot, but he didn’t actually mind, because Cora was in good spirits all day, joking around and smiling more often than not.

She took a nap after lunch, and when she woke up, Lydia came over. Derek never met Lydia, but he heard of her, a lot, from Stiles mostly. So he knew they were friends now, but he also knew the year long crush Stiles used to have on her. Derek resented her, for not feeling the same way about Stiles and for breaking his heart, but it was gone after seeing how much she and Cora clicked.

There was a lot of bantering, borderline rude more often than not, but there were also a lot of hair products and things that looked like torture devices. And then, there was makeup and talk of lipstick colors and dress matching and Derek didn’t understand half of it, but he still stayed with them in Cora’s room, took pictured, brought them coffee and sodas, and sneaked them a glass of wine, for which they were very thankful.

By the end of it, Lydia looked amazing, but that was a normal thing. Cora, however, looked anything but normal.

Derek knew his sister was beautiful, but she always hid under large clothes and jeans. But now, she looked absolutely gorgeous, in a long dark green gown, not a lot of makeup, but she was glowing.

And blushing. ‘Well?’, she anxiously asked, and Derek couldn’t really find anything appropriate to say.

So he took a few pictures quickly, and facetimed Laura.

‘Holy shit, sis’, his bigger sister breathed out. ‘You look so good I wanna cry.’

‘Don’t cry’, Cora rolled her eyes.

‘Your date is going to lose it’, Laura went on. ‘Who is your date, you haven’t told me yet.’

‘It’s not exactly a date’, Cora grumbled. ‘Stiles is taking me.’

‘Derek let him?’, Laura screeched, and Derek frowned.

‘Apparently’, Cora shrugged, taking the phone from Derek’s hand and standing next to him, so that Laura could see them both.

‘Why wouldn’t I?’, he managed to ask, making both of his sisters chuckle.

‘Never mind’, Cora finally rolled her eyes. ‘I’m pretty sure Stiles is afraid of Derek, anyway.’, she told Laura. ‘Once, in gym class, he accidentally fell on top of me, face straight between my boobs, and he spent the next three days begging me to not mention it to Derek.’

‘It was pathetic’, Lydia said from the other side of the room. ‘And quite hilarious.’

‘Hi, Lydia!’, Laura yelled and Lydia answered in exactly the same manner.

‘Am I the last one to meet Lydia?’, Derek felt the need to ask, making all three women smirk simultaneously.

‘They thought I wouldn’t like you’, Lydia said sweetly. ‘That I wouldn’t like how harsh and rude you were.’

Derek shrugged. ‘Fair enough.’

‘You’re polite, though, and cute’, Lydia winked. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go pick up my boyfriend.’

After she left, Cora kept talking to Laura on the phone, until Stiles knocked on the front door. Derek went to answer it and he was, once again, hit with the fact that Stiles was very attractive. He looked good, in skinny jeans, a simple shirt and a dark suit jacket on top, grinning wildly.

‘You’ll take care of her’, Derek said gruffly, and it wasn’t a question.

‘Cross my heart and hope to die’, Stiles answered dramatically, to witch Derek just rolled his eyes.

‘You look nice’, he said, lowering his voice, making Stiles’ head snap up to look at him. ‘You’ll look even better with Cora by your side’, he smirked, willing the moment away.

‘Damn right’, Cora said, stepping out of the living room and into the hallway.

Stiles’ jaw literally dropped when his eyes set on her, and he spent a few long moments just looking up and down her body.

‘Sweetie’, he said in a whisper, ‘you’re beautiful on a daily basis, but you look absolutely incredible.’

Cora blushed, and it melted Derek’s heart away.

‘Go’, he said. ‘Before I get diabetes.’

They both laughed at that, but Cora didn’t leave before kissing his cheek and demanding Stiles took a picture of the two of them, for Laura.

When his mother came home from a long day at work a couple of hours later, she found him on the couch, in a tshirt and boxers, with an empty pint of icecream.

‘Was it bad?’, she winced.

Derek wordlessly handed her his phone, and a couple of minutes later, Talia was crying softly, saying that all her pups were all grown up. Derek let her cry, ignoring her and his father, until they went to bed.

Derek fell asleep on the couch, but he woke up with a start when Cora came home. She was wearing Stiles’ lacrosse shirt and her heels in her hands. She wordlessly went up to Derek’s room, as Stiles and Scott stumbled into the living room.

Derek looked away when Stiles and Scott stripped down to their boxers, putting on some of his t-shirts that Cora brought for them. Then, Cora lied down on the couch with her head in Derek’s lap, Stiles curled up into an armchair and Scott just grabbed a throw pillow and lied down on the floor.

‘Did you have fun?’, Derek finally asked.

‘Yup’, Cora stretched, pushing a hand under Derek’s thigh. ‘My feet hurt from all the dancing.’

‘No’, Stiles snorted, ‘your feet hurt because I kept stepping on them.’

‘Jackson said you two look cute together’, Scott mumbled from the floor.

‘And Isaac was jealous of me’, Stiles sang a bit.

Cora’s heart skipped a beat at that, intriguing Derek.

‘Who’s Isaac?’, he asked slowly, staring at Stiles.

He smirked. ‘Did you really think Cora went through all that trouble of looking gorgeous tonight, for me?’

Cora gave him the finger, but it just made Stiles and Scott chuckle.

‘Ah’, Derek said in understanding. ‘Teenagers.’

‘You’re three years older, dumbass’, Cora grumbled. ‘You graduated last year.’

‘I’ve been meaning to ask’, Stiles interrupted any answer Derek had for his sister, ‘how come you’re not at collage?’

‘I wanted a year off’, Derek said quickly.

‘He’s writing a novel’, Cora spoke over him. ‘But mom made him promise to finish it in a year and take some classes after.’

‘You know’, Derek growled, ‘just cause they’re pack doesn’t mean they’re family.’

‘We should be offended by that.’, Stiles snorted.

‘We’re not’, Scott assured. ‘Family means Christmas dinner and I don’t think I’m prepared for that.’

‘Understandable.’, Derek shrugged.

‘Plus, that means I could date Scott’, Cora grinned. ‘Or Stiles.’

‘No’, they both said at the same time, making Cora snicker.

‘But it does mean we’ll kick Isaac’s ass’, Stiles went on, ‘if he doesn’t ask you out soon.’

‘I’m supposed to do the ass kicking’, Derek pointed out, ‘cause I am her big brother.’

‘We got your back, dude’, Stiles winked at him, and Derek tried his best to ignore the fluttering of his heart. Cora didn’t, considering she started laughing, pushing her face to his leg.

‘We have beds, you know’, Derek said, hoping to distract her.

‘Too far away’, Scott said around a massive yawn.

‘Cuddles’, Cora said, pointedly rubbing her cheek against Derek’s leg.

He sighed. ‘Sleep, then.’

‘Goodnight’, Stiles cheerfully said.

‘Don’t let the bed bugs bite’, Scott didn’t miss a beat in following.

‘Sleep tight’, Cora went on.

‘For fucks’ sake’, Derek sighed, making everyone snicker, but they were all asleep soon after.

+++

Derek woke up to Laura handing him a cup of coffee, which was very weird.

‘I got on a plane after work’, she whispered, smiling softly at where Cora was drooling on his leg.

Then she wordlessly went to the armchair Stiles was sprawled on, and sat in his lap. It took a while for him to stir awake, and even longer to realize what was happening, because his first instinct was to bury his face in Laura’s hair.

‘Scott, buddy’, he said after a few long seconds of him gaping and Laura grinning, ‘I need some help.’

Scott groaned awake, waking Cora up in the process, and they both just stared at Laura, blinking sleepily.

‘Mom and Dad just happened to go away from the weekend’, she innocently said. ‘So I’m in charge of you pups.’

‘Not a pup’, Stiles grumbled, but she ignored him.

‘So the Sheriff is going to lend us some tents, and we’re going camping tonight.’

‘Can I go home and get some clothes?’, Scott asked, not even questioning it.

‘Of course’, Laura said. ‘We leave in two hours, though, so be back by then.’

‘Cars?’, Stiles asked, trying to gently shove Laura away. She didn’t move.

‘Your jeep and dad’s jeep. I’m driving.’, she quickly said when Derek opened his mouth.

‘But why?’, Cora, ever the voice of reason, asked.

Laure just grinned and turned around, kissing Stiles’ cheek. ‘Why not?’

Nobody could argue with that, so they all got up and started preparing.

+++

It was only when they got to the spot Laura picked out, a high point clearing with a very beautiful view, that Derek got to look in the trunk of their car.

There was a lot of beer, but when he asked, Laura just waved him off.

As the day went on, Derek found himself having a good time.

Stiles and Scott took it upon themselves to raise the tents, and they did manage to do it, but it took them a couple of hours and a lot of bickering and angry yelling.

In the meantime, Laura and Cora gathered wood for the fire, and Derek started setting that up. As the sun set, Derek was grilling the meat and the rest of his pack was around him, chatting along and sipping beer.

By the time they got to make smores, Stiles was slightly drunk, much to everyone’s amusement, and he kept grumbling about how unfair it was that wolves couldn’t get drunk.

They kept talking all night long, and if anybody would have asked Derek, he had no idea what they talked about, but he knew he enjoyed himself. It was a long time since he just hung out with his sisters, and Stiles and Scott fit right in.

The sun came up before they went to bed, and when they did, Derek fell asleep instantly, not feeling awkward about being in a tent between Scott and Stiles.

However, when he woke up, Scott wasn’t there anymore, and Stiles was sleeping peacefully with his head on Derek’s chest and a hand thrown over Derek's waist. He didn’t dare move, he didn’t dare breath.

‘Should we bet on Stiles and Derek getting together?’, Derek heard Laura’s voice coming from outside.

‘I can’t do that’, Scott answered, ‘he’s my best friend.’

‘Plus’, Cora said, ‘it won’t be long now. Derek’s not running away from Stiles anymore.’

‘So that wasn’t just me’, Scott said after a beat. ‘I thought I was imagining it.’

‘Nope’, Cora agreed. ‘Derek runs from his emotions, mostly. Laura and I think he was afraid of the things Stiles made him _feel_.’

Derek wanted to bury himself into a hole. He also wanted to kill his sisters.

‘We should leave them alone’, Scott said after a while. ‘They wouldn’t want us interfering.’

‘Yeah, but what if they don’t… do anything?’, Laura argued.

‘They will’, Scott said with conviction. ‘Stiles will, he’s been head over heels with Derek since he was ten.’

Derek’s heart was beating rapidly in his chest. How couldn’t they hear it?

Cora changed the subject, thankfully, and Derek closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, before turning to look at Stiles.

Who was awake.

Derek didn’t get much time, to think, to act, to move, because Stiles closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips to Derek’s. One peck, and he dragged his lips over Derek’s, and another kiss, and then Stiles took Derek’s lower lip between both of his, and that made Derek move.

He wrapped his hands around Stiles’ shoulders, cradling his head with one of them, tilting it a bit. And then, Derek kissed him back, and Stiles smiled against his lips and as far as mornings go, Derek doesn’t think he ever had one as good at this.

When they finally broke the kiss, Stiles didn’t go far away. He was still sprawled on top of Derek, and he smiled at him softly, and shyly, the tips of his ears red.

‘To be fair, I would have waited a couple of more months.’, Stiles whispered around a smile. ‘I had to stick with Scott, though, couldn’t have him being wrong in front of your sisters.’

Derek chuckled, burring his nose in Stiles’ neck, breathing in once. ‘It’s okay’, he mumbled. ‘They’ll be off our backs now.’

‘So what you’re saying’, Stiles said in a teasing voice, ‘is that this is only the logical arrangement.’

‘No’, Derek said after a beat, ‘what I’m saying’, he kissed Stiles’ neck, ‘is that’, his jaw line, ‘I like you’, he kissed his lips, even if Stiles was grinning.

Ten minutes or ten hours later, Derek wasn’t sure, someone was shaking their tent.

‘We’re all happy for you’, Cora said, ‘but for the love of god, get a fucking room.’

‘We have a tent’, Stiles yelled back, grinning manically.

‘And we’re right outside it’, Cora yelled back, ‘Stop, I’m begging you, stop, I don’t want to hear my brother making that noise.’

‘Fine’, Derek snorted. ‘But uh’, he looked between their bodies. ‘Give us a minute.’

There was a pause, in which Derek bit on his lower lip to keep from moaning, because Stiles rolled his hips against his.

‘Oh my god’, Cora shrieked. ‘We’re going for a hike, Laura, Scott, now, right now. Fuck. Derek, you have an hour, so help me, just an hour.’

She kept cursing and mumbling under her breath, but Derek heard her and the rest walk away. When there was enough of a distance between them, Derek grabbed a hold of Stiles’ ass and squeezed it forcefully, making him groan against his lips.

‘You heard her’, Derek mumbled. ‘We have an hour.’

‘For starters.’, Stiles rolled his hips. ‘We have an hour, for starters.’

Derek didn’t get to say much else, his mouth otherwise occupied.


	15. The Super Secret Society of Superheroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [MySnarkySelf](http://mysnarkyself.tumblr.com/) asked: _Sterek prompt: I’m trying to recruit members for my club but you keep stealing away all my potential recruits AU :P Stiles is stealing the recruits from Derek. And Stiles is member of The Secret Society of Superheroes Club. (It was a club on Glee btw)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In a world where Mason is a druid, where Liam got bit before he came to Beacon Hills, where I don't actually care who bit Scott, as long as it wasn't Peter, and where Malia isn't his daugher.  
> In a world where the Hales are alive, but where Mama Hale is a very secretive Alpha. In a world where Derek is the same age as Stiles. This…. Is cracky.

Living in Beacon Hills meant a lot of things, especially if your roots were of the… supernatural variety.

Derek was a werewolf. Born and raised, as most of his family.

The Hales were the only pack of werewolves in Beacon Hills, but they weren’t the only supernatural ones. Honestly, Derek couldn't keep up with everyone. He never really cared, if he’s being honest. But, since he started highschool, he’s been more in touch with all the other supernatural people.

Because he smells them, down the hall, in class, in the cafeteria. And it’s clear that most of them know about Derek, too, because they nod his way every time their paths cross.

It’s weird, though. Because Derek doesn’t ever talk to them. He’d like to, surprisingly enough. He doesn’t have friends, he’s on the lacrosse team, but he was never social, he never went to parties, he was just polite enough with anybody.

But Derek found himself wanting to speak with the banshee and with the incubus that is always around her. With the kitsune and the werecoyote, the druid who sometime practices in the woods behind the Hale house, and even with the freshman who was just bitten by a rogue alpha. He wanted to talk about their powers and abilities, because nobody ever told him anything in his family, and because he wasn’t allowed in the family library.

So Derek came up with an idea. His mother approved of it, even if Laura and Cora laughed their asses off. But, thankfully, the principal also approved of the seemingly harmless Myth Club. They’d just meet up once a week for a couple of hours, and discuss about their favorite myths and mythologies.

Of course, the principal didn’t know that THEY WERE the myths, but it was a great and stealthy idea. Derek was excited.

≈

He started out easily enough, with a poster on the news board. Of course, that didn’t do much, because nobody ever read the news board.

Well, Cora put her name on there, but that didn’t mean much.

≈

Derek was going to have to talk with everyone. That would be problematic, because Derek was a fairly anxious person, and most of the time, he liked being alone and not talking with anybody, but he really wanted this club to happen, so he pushed through it.

≈

He started with Kira Yukamura, who was a fire kitsune, and one of the most nicest people he has ever almost met.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry’, she whined. ‘I’m already in a club.’

‘You can be in more than one club’, Derek smiled.

‘Well, yeah, but-‘, Kira looked around, before lowering her voice to a whisper. ‘This is a secret club.’

Derek blinked at that. ‘So what? Look, I… Maybe I haven’t explained this as well as I should.’

‘Oh, you did’, Kira flashed her eyes. ‘But I really am sorry, Derek, I can’t.’

He didn’t insist anymore.

The next day, he heard Stiles Stilinski tell Kira that he’ll pick her up on the way to their super secret club.

Derek scoffed.

≈

Next on his list was the werecoyote.

Derek though he’d manage to convince her, because she was as antisocial as he was, and as violent as he felt like being.

‘No’, Malia blinked. ‘I really don’t need any more supernatural friends.’

‘I’m not talking about making friends’, Derek tried, ‘I just want to-‘

‘No, I don’t care.’, Malia shook her head, turning around and walking away.

She stopped after two steps, turning around to give Derek a very fake smile.

‘Thanks for the invite, though’, she said, and Derek scoffed.

Later that day, he heard Malia tell Stiles Stilinski that she won’t be able to make it to the meeting. Derek was mildly annoyed.

≈

The werewolf was next. He seemed terrified of Derek.

‘I can’t’, Liam whispered. ‘I don’t… I’m not so good with control yet, around other… monsters.’

‘Don’t call us that!’, Derek snapped, making Liam flinch, and making his eyes flash.

‘Sorry’, he said. ‘Other creatures. I’m not good with control around other creatures. Your mother is helping me out, but it’s… a slow process.’

Derek didn’t know that, Talia never even mentioned Liam after the initial pack meeting.

‘Please don’t kill me’, Liam said, making Derek scoff.

‘I’m not going to kill you. I’ll even help you, if you want. It’s been a long time since my mom had to learn control, or since she had to teach any of us’, he shrugged. ‘The information is fresher in my head’, Derek smiled. ‘I can help.’

Liam’s eyes grew wide, but he slowly shook his head.

‘No, Stiles’ got it covered.’

Derek narrowed his eyes. ‘Stiles… Stilinski?’

‘I shouldn’t have said that’, Liam paled, all but running out of there.

Derek was curious.

≈

Mason was next.

‘Thanks, man’, he grinned, ‘but you’re not really my type.’

Derek gaped, even if he could feel the tip of his ears reddening. ‘That’s not-‘

‘But’, Mason winked, ‘if you ever hear about a Magic for beginners club, let me know.’

It doesn’t surprise Derek, when the next day, he sees Stiles Stilinski laughing with Mason. But it does annoy him.

≈

He tried Danny, next, and Derek was really surprised by the amount of control over his powers that the incubus had.

‘Sorry, but I don’t have a death wish’, Danny grinned at him.

‘Why does everybody assume I want to kill them?’, Derek groaned, and that made Danny laugh.

‘I didn’t mean you’, is all he said before leaving.

The next day, all the cafeteria heard Stiles Stilinski yelling after Danny, asking if he was attractive to gay guys.

Derek didn’t really know how to feel about that.

≈

Derek goes to Lydia Martin, the banshee, as a last resort.

‘Oh, honey’, she tutted. ‘You haven’t figured it out yet?’

She left without another word, heading straight to Stiles Stilinski’s side. Lydia said something to him,  that made Stiles’ eyes snap to Derek. Then, he grinned.

And that, more than anything, pissed Derek off beyond relief.

≈

When he got home that day, after his usual after school run, Scott McCall was just stepping out of his mother’s office.

He grinned at Derek, eyes flashing alpha red, and Derek was too stunned to say anything, as Scott left.

Talia told him that Scott is a true Alpha, that he has a pack, that the two packs will work together from now on.

All Derek could think about was Stiles. Because he’s human, so human, and he’s been Scott’s best friend since forever, of course he’s going to be in his pack.

And then, it hit Derek. The super secret club, that Stiles clearly ran, it wasn’t a club, it was a pack. Their pack.

They’ve rounded up all the supernatural creatures in school, except for Derek and Cora, and they’ve made a pack. With Scott McCall in charge.

That wasn’t a problem, Derek thought. If Talia was going along with it, Scott must be doing something right.

What pissed Derek off, was that nobody told him.

≈

The next day, at lunch, he boldly sat down at their table.

Scott had his arm wrapped around Kira, Lydia and Stiles were huddled over an AP chemistry book, Danny and Malia were discussing some sort of game, and Liam and Mason were both doing something on their phones.

They all stopped to stare at Derek.

Stiles was the first to recover, and he smirked.

‘So, Hale, you here to talk to me about joining your club?’

Derek raised an eyebrow, and took a pointed sniff. Stiles still smelled human.

‘Not really.’, he said. ‘There’s no point anymore for that, is there?’

‘I still don’t get it’, Stiles narrowed his eyes, ‘What was the point of that?’

‘Not making a pack, for one’, Derek snapped back. He heard Scott sigh, but he ignored him, just as he ignored the way Stiles’ smile grew wider.

‘I wanted information’, Derek shrugged. ‘My family doesn’t ever tell me anything, and I’m not allowed in the family library.’

‘What kind of information?’, it’s Lydia that asked, while Stiles and Scott shared a look.

‘About your abilities’, Derek said. ‘I’m just curious, is all.’

‘I find that hard to believe’, Lydia raised an eyebrow.

‘I don’t’, Stiles said, making everyone turn to look at him. ‘Derek is smart as hell, he’s always reading some book or another, and come on, could you imagine it?’, he all but shrieked. ‘Having an 10 square foot room filled with two rows of books about the supernatural and not being able to read them?’

Derek froze at that. ‘How do you know how the library looks like?’

Stiles finally looked to him then, and it shocked Derek even more. Because for a split second, Stiles looked at him softly. With a calm smile on his face, and a twinkle in his eyes. Of course, it was gone in a flash, replaced with a manic sort of grin.

‘Tell you what. Join the club tomorrow, and I’ll tell you.’

Derek rolled his eyes, turning to Scott.

‘I can’t do that, I already have a pack.’

Scott shook his head, but it was Stiles that talked next.

‘And Talia was pretty adamant about your pack and ours working together, right?’, he raised an eyebrow. ‘So join the club tomorrow’.

They stared at each other for a while. Stiles with an evil looking, cocky smirk, Derek still mildly annoyed.

‘Come on’, Stiles said in a very flirty tone. ‘You know you want to.’

Derek narrowed his eyes. ‘I’m still pissed off’, he admitted. ‘You stole all my club members.’

Stiles tilted his head. ‘I might be willing to let you get revenge. If you come tomorrow.’

‘Fine’, Derek said after a few moments.

‘Bring Cora’, Scott said. ‘Laura too, if she wants.’

‘And a change of clothes’, Liam added. Derek stared at him.

‘Oh’, Stiles chuckled. ‘This is going to be fun.’

Derek wasn’t so sure.

≈

Late that night, Derek got a text from Stiles, even though he had no idea how he got the number. Apparently, he was supposed to bring snacks and drinks and his sisters.

≈

The McCall pack ignored him throughout the next day, but at lunch, they all sat down at his table, and Cora joined them too.

Derek… didn’t feel as bad as he should have.

≈

He didn’t know what to expect when he got to the preserve. Everybody was grinning, shooting him and Cora excited woods, and Stiles, Scott and Liam were doing their best to impress Laura.

They walked through the woods for about 20 minutes, until they got to a clearing. Once there, the (quite alarming quantity) of food and drinks were thrown in a pile, and before Derek even realized what was happening, they were all sitting in a circle, with Stiles in the middle.

‘So, Hales, welcome to your first meeting of The Super Secret Society of Superheroes.’, he said in his best anchor voice.

Laura and Cora both snorted at that, Derek just raised an eyebrow, because as he was talking, Stiles was looking straight at him.

‘Or, as I like to call it, pack training.’, Stiles went on. ‘Here’s how this works: you all try to get to me.’

There was silence over the clearing.

‘What, that’s it?’, Laura laughed. ‘All the supernatural creatures around try to get to you, the… human?’

Stiles slowly turned to look at her. ‘Human? Are you sure?’

‘Of course’, Laura scoffed, taking a deep breath. Derek did the same, and he smelt it.

Fire. Woods. Electricity. Energy. Power.

Magic.

All coming from Stiles.

Scott roared, then, and shifted, running straight to Stiles.

Who didn’t miss a beat in raising a hand and throwing Scott on his back.

Lydia took a deep breath then, and all the wolves covered their ears, before she screamed.

Derek could see the power of her scream, it was somewhat visible, a silver energy directed straight at Stiles. Who apparently had a shield around him, bright pink.

Malia and Liam tried to get to him next, teaming up. They were unsuccessful, ending in the same place Scott landed.

Kira pulled a katana out of nowhere, and she threw it as a spear, straight at Stiles’ head. He had his back to her, but Stiles just tilted his head, making the sword miss its target.

Mason was the only one who appeared to be a challenge for Stiles, the dark blue energy wave that came out of his hands making Stiles’ red shield a bit smaller. But, in no time, Mason was also on the ground.

Cora and Laura tried next, teaming up as well. Derek understood they had no chance, so he took his. While his sisters were attacking, Derek quickly climbed a tree, going at far up as he could.

When Stiles threw Cora and Laura to the ground, Derek used the fact that he was distracted with that, and he threw himself out of the tree, straight onto Stiles.

He went down with a very high pitch yelp, and Derek felt the moment he let go of his magic, the moment he couldn’t smell it anymore, when his skin stopped having goose bumps and his muscles relaxed.

He also felt Stiles. Because Derek landed on top of him, while Stiles landed on the ground.

His hands were holding tightly to Derek’s shirt and Derek felt muscles under his hands. Stiles’ eyes were closed, but when he opened them, there was awe.

He was looking at Derek in complete awe.

‘You’re the first one to do that’, he wheezed out.

Derek preened at that, but there were more important issues.

‘What are you?’, he asked, and honestly, he sounded even more in awe than Stiles did.

‘Frankly’, Stiles winced, ‘I’m kinda aroused right now.’

Derek frowned. Then, he took a deep breath and he very quickly got off Stiles. Because his sisters were there.

Really, that was the only reason.

‘Oh boy’, he heard Laura sigh, and that just made him stand by his decision even more.

‘I’m an emissary in training’, Stiles said, getting up from the floor.

‘You’re still training?’, Cora asked, incredulously.

‘You’re very powerful’, Laura added. ‘I… Our emissary isn’t as powerful.’

Stiles grinned at that. ‘He’s training me, actually.’

‘So out mother knows’, Derek said, slowly.

‘It’s why she agreed to have us working together’, Scott nodded. ‘Cause Stiles is strong and she wants him by her side.’

‘Sounds like her’, Laura said, sharing a look with Cora.

‘She’ll like that you’re training with us’, Scott smiled at her, and Laura quickly responded in kind.

‘So, now that that’s settled’, Stiles straightened his back. ‘Again.’

≈

They trained in the woods for a couple of hours, and then, Laura insisted, they all went to the back garden of the Hale house, and spent a couple of more hours around the pool.

His family kept shooting them weird looks. Derek really didn’t care, he was too busy listening to Stiles, who not only talked about his powers, in debt, but explained whatever he knew about kitsunes, werecoyotes and banshees.

Derek ate up every word.

≈

After everybody left, Stiles lingered behind. He and Derek were still in the pool, but they were the only ones left, even his sisters went inside.

‘So uh’, Stiles started, leisurely swimming around Derek. ‘Is your mother old school? I mean, does she respect old traditions?’

‘Like what?’, Derek frowned.

‘Like her children marrying only other werewolves. Like her… girls marrying boys and her boys marrying girls.’

Derek frowned some more. ‘No… what are you on about?’

‘So she wouldn’t mind’, Stiles stopped swimming, standing up right in front of Derek, ‘if I’d take you out on a date.’

Derek blinked. Then, he blushed. A lot.

Then, he very pointedly ignored his family’s delighted cheers that were coming from inside the house.

Well, he tried to ignore them. It was quite impossible, considering even Stiles heard them, his head quickly turning in the direction of the house.

‘I keep forgetting about your superhearing’, Stiles said, turning bright red himself.

‘At least that answers your question’, Derek pointed out.

Stiles turned back to look at him them, hesitation clear.

‘What about your answer?’

Derek let a few seconds pass, before he kissed Stiles. Hard. And quickly. And, in his chaste, he sent both of them to the bottom of the pool.

They didn’t stop kissing.


	16. mentionable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five times Stiles mentioned Derek, and one time someone else did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I wrote this before 5a aired. I forgot about it. And, well, I wrote the ending today. Uh?! Here ya go. Nonsense. 
> 
> [Stiles has a pretty... memorable rant in this one. I have no idea when that came from.]

**_→ONE_ **

There was a new threat in town, and nobody knew how to deal with it. They didn’t even know what the thing was.

And it wasn’t even important, it seemed, as they were all camped up in the Stilinski living room, fighting about what to do with it.

Kira and Malia were arguing about killing it, Scott and the Sheriff were against that, Lydia and Parrish were giving arguments to both sides, Liam was just trying to keep up with the discussion and Stiles…

Stiles has been trying to get a word through for the past half hour, but nobody paid him any attention, they were too busy fighting and yelling.

‘I miss Derek’, Stiles sighed, and that made everybody turn to stare at him.

‘Oh’, Stiles raised an eyebrow, ‘That’s what got your attention?’, he shook his head, willing his anger away. ‘It’s a djinn, it feeds on human blood and poisons its prey, causing reality-altering hallucinations. I don’t remember how to kill one, but I do know it’s somewhere in my books.’

Everybody still stared. Stiles just sighed and went to the bedroom to get the necessary books.

 

**_→TWO_ **

He was grocery shopping with his father, down the vegetable isle, when he felt the Sheriff’s gaze on him.

‘What?’, Stiles asked, confused.

‘You hate cauliflower.’

Stiles looked at his hands, where he was, indeed, putting a couple of cauliflower heads into a bag. He shrugged.

‘Derek fries it with butter and bacon. It’s eatable that way.’

The Sheriff stared at Stiles for a few long seconds, blinking slowly, before he turned away and headed towards the yogurt section.

 

**_→THREE_ **

When Malia broke up with him, Stiles wasn’t even mad. He realized it was coming a long time ago, he just didn’t have the heart to initiate it. That might make him a bad person, but Malia seemed fine too.

What Stiles didn’t expect, though, was for Malia to tell him that she’ll be leaving town. That she needed a break from everything. That she wanted to be a stranger, unnoticeable.

‘You should call Derek’, Stiles said. ‘Having some family around might help.’

Malia stared at him for a long while, and Stiles didn’t understand why, not really. She didn’t explain, she just left.

Stiles probably shouldn’t have felt relieved, but he did.

 

**_→FOUR_ **

They were at one of the outside tables, during lunch.

When he felt someone sitting down next to him, a scent of woman’s shampoo hitting his nose, Stiles turned around expecting to see Kira.

So, of course, he screeched, loudly, when he saw Cora, and he would have fallen backwards on the bench if she didn’t catch him.

‘What are you doing here?’, he asked, somewhat angrily, when he got his bearings.

‘What?’, she said defensively. ‘A girl can’t come and visit?’

Stiles and Scott both narrowed their eyes, completely in sync, but it was Stiles that spoke.

‘Cut the crap’, he told her in a strong voice. She seemed surprised by it, blinking a couple of times, but then she sighed and rolled her eyes.

‘I’m just passing through. I drove for 20 hours straight, and I need a place to crash because hotel rooms smell horrible and Derek sold the apartment building.’

Stiles shared a look with Scott, and it was Scott who asked, this time.

‘Are you running from someone?’

Cora shook her head. ‘No, I’m not, promise. I’m really just passing through.’

‘And who are you?’, Liam asked, hesitantly.

Cora blinked at him, then narrowed her eyes. ‘You’re the pup.’

Liam blushed.

‘She’s Derek’s sister’, Stiles explained. ‘Are we keeping her?’, he asked Scott, ignoring the glare Cora was sending her way.

Scott nodded, so Stiles got out his phone and told his father that Cora needed a place to sleep, and that he shouldn’t mind the werewolf sleeping in his bed when he got home from work. The Sheriff agreed easily, and Stiles handed over his house keys to Cora, telling her where to find clean sheets and towels.

Cora woke up just in time to have dinner with Stiles, the Sheriff and Scott. It was time spent mostly making small talk, until she snapped, hitting Stiles’ shin.

‘Aren’t you gonna ask?’, she asked, angrily.

Stiles glared at her, but in the end he sighed.

‘Is Derek okay?’

Once again, the whole table stared at him.

‘That’s what you’re going with?’, she raised a judgmental eyebrow. ‘Not where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing, where I’m going… But you ask if my brother’s okay?! Why don’t you ask him yourself?’

‘If you wanted to talk about that, you would have done it by now’, Stiles shrugged. ‘And I did. Ask Derek, I mean. I do ask him how he is. Constantly. He always responds with _alive_.’

Cora blinked at that. Then, she sighed, and lowered her head.

‘He’ll come back. Here, I mean. He’ll figure out that this is home and that he’s supposed to be here. It just… it’s taking him a while.’

‘You really think Beacon Hills is his home?’, the Sheriff was the one who asked, even if they were all thinking it.

Cora nodded, smiling. ‘Not Beacon Hills, but… Scott. And Stiles, and Lydia, and Kira, and the pup. And our family graves, and…’ her eyes skipped to Stiles. ‘And other things.’

‘He doesn’t have to come back because of us’, Scott said, and Cora was quick to nod again.

‘He knows that. That’s why he left in the first place.’

And that was the end of that discussion.

 

**_→FIVE_ **

Stiles is in the middle of a psychology class, with Scott by his side and Lydia and Kira sitting in front of them. For the past 15 minutes, their teacher has been talking about PTSD.

Mrs. Banks, a nice young woman who just started working at the school, she didn’t really say anything wrong, but Stiles had a major problem. So he addressed it, as politely as he could, raising his hand and everything.

‘You make it sound like PTSD is a disease that-‘

‘It is’, the teacher interrupted him. ‘Just because it’s a mental condition, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t consider it a disease.’

‘That’s not what I was going to say’, Stiles narrowed his eyes. ‘It’s just that from what you said, you made it sound like only military people can get PTSD.’

‘What are you saying, Mr. Stilinski?’

‘That it’s not just military personnel that get PTSD.’, Stiles rolled his eyes, a bit. ‘It’s called post-TRAUMATIC-stress-disorder, it can be triggered by any sort of traumatizing event.’

‘I guess’, Mrs. Banks shrugged.

And that, that pissed Stiles off.

‘Don’t guess’, he snapped. ‘It’s the truth.’

Mrs. Banks’ whole expression changed, as she looked down at Stiles with superiority.

‘Don’t use that tone with me, Mr. Stilinski.’

‘I’m sorry’, he didn’t hesitate in saying. ‘But the way you were talking, you were excluding a lot of people suffering from PTSD.’

‘Like whom?’, she raised an annoyed eyebrow.

‘You want a list?’, Stiles snorted, ignoring the concerned looks Scott was giving him.

‘Okay’, he went on, ‘what about the victims of abuse? Any type of abuse, from parents beating their children or wives to rapist and pedophiles? What about victims of kidnapping? People caught up in the middle of police shootings? Natural catastrophes? What about-‘

‘How do you know so much about this, Stiles?’, the teacher asked, mockingly. ‘Did your daddy teach you?’

Stiles saw **r e d**. If Scott wasn’t there to hold him back, he would’ve probably punched the Mrs. Banks in the face.

But Scott managed to keep him in his chair, so Stiles took a deep breath, willing himself to calm down and looked his teacher in the eye.

‘No. My father didn’t teach me about PTSD, he taught me how to _deal_ with it. I learned about PTSD triggers from a lot of people. Isaac Lahey, for example. You don’t know him, but we do. He was in our grade until a couple of months ago. Yeah, his dad used to beat him up and lock him in a freezer, so Isaac gets flashbacks every time he’s in an elevator. And I have this friend, Derek. You might have heart of him, you grew up here. Derek _Hale._ Yeah, his family burnt to death when he was 16 and to this day, 7 years later, he still flinches every time he sparks open the stove.’

The teacher didn’t say anything, so Stiles went on.

‘But that’s not my problem, right now. You are, people like who, who just… take it all down and make us feel like it’s not important. That our PTSD, just because it isn’t acquired on a battle field, it’s not important.’

‘What the hell are you on about, Stilinski?’, one guy said, and Stiles had no idea who he was.

‘Last year, Scott and I, and Lydia and two others, we were trapped inside this school, late at night, running from a psychotic killer. The school made us all talk to the councilor, who spent half of the sessions lecturing us about how dumb we were for going into the school at night, and the other half telling us how lucky we were to be alive. We weren’t told how to deal with the nightmares and anxiety and paranoia.’

The whole class was staring at him, Stiles was aware. But he was mad, so mad, he couldn’t talk talking.

‘Last semester, Allison, our friend, Scott’s love and Lydia’s best friend, she was killed. Right in front of us. And the school councilor, a different one this time, spent our sessions telling us that it gets better, that she’s in a better place. We weren’t told how to deal with seeing her motionless face every time we closed our eyes.’

‘And three months ago, when I was supposed to be taking the PSATs-‘

‘We were all there, Stilinski’, the same guy rolled his eyes. ‘We know what happened.’

‘No’, Stiles laughed. ‘You weren’t there, when a serial killer held a gun to my head, and he was counting backwards. You weren’t there, when an FBI agent came in and shot him, straight in the head. And you weren’t there, when I had blood and brain matter splattered on my face, a dead body at my feet… and the school councilor told me I should go home and get some rest.’

Stiles turned to look at Mrs. Banks again.

‘This was slightly uncalled for’, he said, slowly. ‘But you don’t get to use that tone about my father. Not when he has done more for my mental health than three different certified school councilors did. And you, it’s not your job, I get that. But you spent 15 minutes explaining what PTSD is, when you should have spent 5 doing that, and used the other 10 to teach us, how to deal with people dealing with PTSD, weather it’s us, or the ones around us.’

‘What the hell is wrong with you?’, a girl Stiles didn’t know said, somewhat forcefully.

‘As Derek once put it’, Stiles sighed, ‘I’m a fucked up kid who got thrown into fucked up situations and no professional entity thought I could be fixed.’

‘Get out, Stilinski’, Mrs. Banks puffed. ‘Wait for me at the Principal’s office.’

Stiles got suspended for a week. But he went out the doors to most of his colleagues applauding him, because rumors spread like fire.  At home, the Sheriff told him he was proud. Scott asked in what context Derek said what he said.

Stiles spent the week sleeping.

 

**_→PLUS ONE_ **

When a group of hunters kidnapped Stiles on the first week of Christmas break, he wasn’t surprised.

When he managed to escape from the hunters after a couple of days, he wasn’t surprised, considering they were stupid and underestimating of puny humans.

When he realized the woods they kept him in were miles away from any town, he wasn’t surprised, just disappointed.

When after 10 miles of walking down a deserted road, he stumbled upon a dodgy diner, Stiles was ecstatic.

Of course, as soon as he walked in, everybody else in the diner turned their heads towards him. And their eyes flashed.

Mostly gold, a couple of blue, one red.  

Stiles gulped. ‘I really wish I would have read more on werewolves meeting protocols.’

The Alpha, a young redhead woman, raised an eyebrow. She also got up from her booth and stopped a few steps in front of Stiles. But she didn’t say anything, so Stiles started babbling.

‘I’m really sorry for barging in, but I was kidnapped. Yeah, I just lost a couple of hunters out in those woods’, he pointed a finger in the direction he came from.

The Alpha still didn’t say anything.

‘I promise I lost them on the way, I made sure of it. Extra sure, I wasn’t followed.’

The Alpha still didn’t say anything.

‘I’m exhausted’, Stiles tried. ‘And dehydrated and hungry and your establishment here, it looks lovely. Really it does, and that scent’, he exaggerated taking a breath, ‘I can smell the greasy goodness, and I’m just human, you know.’

‘You don’t smell human’, the Alpha finally said, puffing her chest.

‘Well, I am.’, Stiles rubbed the back of his head. ‘But uh, I mean, sometimes I can do a bit of magic? Low level stuff, really, I’m not dangerous. And, uh, I’ve spent the last couple of years with werewolves and werecoyotes and kitsunes, you know, I think the cuddles make their scents rub off on me.’

The Alpha tilted her head to the side.

‘I’ve also been possessed by an evil Japanese fox spirit’, Stiles sighed. ‘I’ve been told it left a weird ... variation of my scent behind.’

When the Alpha didn’t say anything, she just kept frowning at him, Stiles was pretty desperate.

‘I’ll be out of your way. Just let me call someone, give me a glass of water and some curly fries to go, and I’ll-‘

‘Are you Stiles?’, a voice from the back said, and when Stiles looked, it was the cook, a young man with long, blonde hair.

‘Maybe?’, Stiles tried.

‘Dude’, the cook breathed out. ‘Derek said you talk a lot.’

Stiles just … blinked. For a while. Then, he turned to the Alpha. Who was watching him with a smirk.

‘You guys know Derek?’, he asked slowly.

The Alpha hummed, but she also nodded.

‘And do you…’, Stiles tilted his head, ‘like Derek?’

Once again, the Alpha nodded.

‘Does that mean you won’t eat me?’, Stiles winced.

It took a couple of beats, but the Alpha snorted. ‘I’d like to eat you’, she winked, ‘but I won’t kill you.’

Stiles blushed, and gulped, and adverted his eyes.

‘Derek wouldn’t like you doing that’, the cook said in a sing-song voice, and Stiles still didn’t look up from the floor.

There wasn’t a lot of talk, from then on. Stiles ate some light sandwiches, and drank a lot of water, he showered in the back of the diner, he put on someone else’s clean clothes. And when he was done, Derek was waiting for him outside of the diner, leaning against his gray SUV.

‘You’re 600 miles away from Beacon Hills’, Derek said in a serious tone, slightly annoyed, ‘and I still have to be the one to come save you?’

‘I saved myself’, Stiles protested. ‘From the hunters, at least.’

‘Not from the pack of werewolves’, Derek pointed out.

Stiles nodded, all tension leaking away from his body. He smiled, faintly. ‘Thank you for that.’

‘No problem’, Derek answered easily. ‘Now come on’, he opened the passenger door of his car. ‘Let’s get you home.’

When Stiles got into the car, he couldn't help but stare at the back of it, which was filled with things. Bags and boxes and… things.

Stiles leveled Derek with a look, before the wolf got to buckle up.

‘Get… _me_ home?’, Stiles narrowed his eyes.

Derek rolled his, but there was a small smile on his lips. ‘Get us home’.

Stiles grinned at that, but didn’t say anything else, as Derek started the engine and backed out of the parking lot.

‘Plus’, Derek said next, ‘I heard you keep mentioning me, the hiccups are annoying.’

‘I hate you’, Stiles sighed, but he was smiling.

Derek grinned at him briefly, before his eyes got back on the road. Stiles leaned his head against the window, but a couple of moments later, there was a hand resting on his thigh, and weirdly enough, Stiles didn’t hesitate in putting his hand over Derek’s, threading their fingers together.

They both were silent for a couple of minutes, refusing to meet each other’s eyes, until-

‘Waaaait’, Stiles all but yelped. ‘Werewolves can get the hiccups?’

Derek sighed.


	17. Hell, apparently.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this post](http://probablynotadalek.tumblr.com/post/129458767517/the-most-terrifying-five-minutes-of-my-life-but)
> 
> I MAY HAVE JUST ACCIDENTALLY CAME OUT TO MY ENTIRE FAMILY IN THE WORST WAY POSSIBLE  
> MY GRANDMA WAS SAYING HOW GAYS ARE GOING TO HELL AND I DIDN’T WANT TO DEAL WITH IT SO I STARTED TO LEAVE  
> MY COUSIN ASKED WHERE I WAS GOING  
> “Hell apparently”  
> WHAT HAVE I DONE

Everybody knew that Stiles never shied away from saying his opinions, and that they usually were well thought and researched beforehand. The delivery might not always be good, he did tend to get hot headed and irrationally angry once he started arguing, but even so, Stiles always listened to what other people had to say. Even if he didn’t agree with them, he listened.

Still, there were moments, in which Stiles wanted to scream and shout and punch someone, but he knew that opening the argument had no purpose, he wasn’t going to be able to change those people’s opinions.

This was one of those moments.

⁰○⃝○⁰

Scott was a good Alpha. He cared about his pack, took care of them, of their safety but their hearts too. It was easy, for either of them to come to Scott with a problem, knowing he won’t judge and he’ll do anything in his power to help.

Especially Stiles, considering he was friends with Scott the longest.

And he wanted to do it. Stiles desperately wanted to tell him. But he just couldn’t find the words.

How does one tell their Alpha, their best friend, “you know, buddy, I just figured out I’m bisexual, and let me tell you, your second in command, yeah, you know, the growly older dude who still keeps shoving me into walls, yeah, that guy, yeah, he held a massive role in this life altering event”.

Scott wouldn’t have a problem with Stiles’ sexuality. He wouldn’t even bat an eye. But Stiles didn’t know how Scott will react to the Derek issue. Yes, they were sort of friends now, Derek was Scott’s second in command, and they relied on each other, a lot. There was trust where it wasn’t before, there was friendly banter and playful shoves.

It’s probably part of the reason Stiles fell for Derek so hard. He’s not an idiot, he knew there was always something there, since the moment Stiles’ eyes landed on the werewolf on that sunny day in the woods. But it was always in the back of his mind, buried under years of pinning for Lydia, and under the ghost touches of Malia.

But with Lydia being a partner for Stiles now, more than anything else, with Malia out of the picture, with Derek coming back and easily sliding into his role in the pack, Stiles couldn’t bury things anymore.

Feelings. And desires.

He tried to ignore them, though.

He figured: first, he’ll gather the courage to tell Scott about it. Maybe his dad. And the rest of the pack. He’ll deal with Derek after that.

Stiles regretted that decision now. Because if he started talking now, he won’t stop. And for one, his pack will figure it out, and secondly, he’ll probably start a pack war.

⁰○⃝○⁰

They were all in Scott’s living room, the entire pack, the Sheriff and Mrs McCall too, trying their best to impress and act politely.

Because there was also another Alpha in the room.

Madam Lyubov, as they all had to address her, was an old Russian woman. She was small and her hair was gray, but she was dressed smartly, in expensive, stylish clothes. And her lipstick was as red as the blood she probably drank for breakfast, Stiles thought.

Because she was powerful. Very powerful. Every werewolf flinched when she flashed her eyes, except for Scott, who held his ground and flashed his eyes back.

She came in peace, though. Her pack had territory close to Beacon Hills, and she wanted an alliance. Well, not really an alliance, she didn’t really want to send help if Scott ever needed it, and she claimed that she never needed help. She just wanted to talk, out of respect for Talia Hale, and form some sort of agreement, that the two packs weren’t going to piss each other off.

It was a good deal, considering. That’s why they were all trying their best, Scott and Derek especially.

But now, Stiles wanted nothing else than to bash her head into a wall.

The discussion started like this:

‘I was walking around your town yesterday’, Madam Lyubov started by saying, ‘and I was very surprised to see two young men kissing. Right there, in front of a coffee shop, in the middle of the day, in public.’

‘That’s pretty common here’, Derek diplomatically said.

She huffed. ‘It’s horrible, isn’t it? It’s unnatural.’

‘We’re werewolves, madam’, Derek smiled. ‘We’re used to unnatural.’

‘Not like this’, she shook her head, highly disgusted. ‘It’s against nature, that. It’s despicable, sinful.’

She went on and on from there.

Stiles’ anger slowly but surely kept rising, and he couldn’t say anything. He knew he couldn’t.

Lyubov kept ranting on, about how all the gays were going to hell, how they’re so much worse than any supernatural creature in existence, that all the gays should be locked away and put in therapy.

Derek and Scott weren’t saying much, nodding along and humming, unimpressed. The rest of the pack kept silent, but Stiles could see Lydia clenching her fists, and Kira looking disappointed every time Scott nodded. Stiles’ father had a blank expression on his face, but his fist was clenched in his lap. Mrs McCall was the only one who wasn’t subtle, she was fully glaring at the other woman.

Stiles tried his best to remain calm, but when he realized that wasn’t an option anymore, he tried to bail. He got up from his chair and mumbled an ‘excuse me’ under his breath, heading straight to the front door.

‘Where are you going?’, Madam Lyubov asked, and Stiles didn’t think.

‘Hell, apparently’.

There was silence. Strong, awkward, chilly silence.

‘Oh’, Lydia said. ‘Okay.’

Stiles turned to look at her, finding the banshee smirking at him. Then, her eyes moved to the couch, and Stiles’ eyes followed.

Derek’s eyes were comically large. Scott was gaping, wordlessly, the tip of his ears bright pink. And the other Alpha, she looked at Stiles in cold detachment, her disgust clear.

‘It’s always a disappointment’, she huffed out, ‘when people with such potential throw it away on frivolous sins.’

Stiles snorted. ‘Love is a frivolous sin.’

‘It’s not love’, Lyubov all but spitted out, and Stiles shrugged.

‘With all due respect, madam, that’s your opinion. Which I don’t particularly care about. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a train to Hell to catch.’

He turned around, intent on leaving, but Derek called his name. When Stiles turned around, the wolf was watching him something very close to pride in his eyes. Derek was amused, clearly, his eyes sparkling, and he smirked when he talked.

‘Mind if I join you?’

Stiles blinked. Twice. Then, he blushed. But he nodded and headed out, Derek hot on his heels.

⁰○⃝○⁰

They were silent as Stiles drove them to Derek’s loft, but once they got there, and collapsed on the couch, Derek sighed.

‘My mother would have killed her.’

Stiles turned to look at him, dubious but interested. ‘Really?’

Derek nodded, his eyes wide. ‘One of my cousins was asexual, I had an aunt who was a lesbian and Laura like anything, she dated a transsexual once. Mom was just happy her family knew … who they were.’

‘I wonder what my dad is thinking right now.’, Stiles tilted his head.

‘Good things, I think’, Derek frowned. ‘He looked proud.’

Stiles shrugged. ‘I’ll have to face that music, at some point.’

‘I’m sure it won’t be a problem’, Derek said, clearly believing it. ‘Scott will need some explaining, though. Probably.’

Stiles snorted, but it was gone soon, replaced with anxiousness. ‘I wanted to tell him first, for a long while now. But I just couldn’t find the words.’

‘Why?’, Derek frowned. ‘Scott is the most understanding man I have ever met, and you’re his best friend.’

‘I know’, Stiles smiled, ‘but as you said, he’d want explanations. And that, I wasn’t ready for that.’

Derek just looked at him, with a questioning look.

Stiles looked away, and blushed furiously, but he did explain. ‘He’d want to know what made me realize. Who.’

‘Realize… you are gay?’, Derek asked slowly.

‘Bisexual’, Stiles admitted. It felt good saying the word out loud.

‘Ah’, Derek nodded. ‘I didn’t get to come out to my parents. Laura, though. Well-‘, he stammered, slightly, ‘I didn’t come out to her, as much as she walked in on me.’

Stiles stifled a laugh, making Derek roll his eyes.

‘She laughed and ran out of the room. After, she hugged me and teased me, that I couldn’t let her be the special one.’

Stiles smiled at that, whishing he would have met her.

‘Then she took me to one of her bars and tried to hook me up with all of her exes.’

‘That sounds great’, Stiles said, not bothering to hide his laugh.

‘Yeah’, Derek agreed, still smiling. Then, he bumped their shoulders together.

‘I’m proud of you’, he said in a low voice. ‘It was pretty spectacular.’

Stiles blushed again. ‘Think I started a pack war?’

‘No’, Derek didn’t hesitate. ‘Lyubov probably think it’s beneath her. Plus, she wouldn’t want to go head to head against Scott.’

‘Yeah?’, Stiles couldn’t help but ask, still anxious.

Derek nodded. ‘Scott’s terrifying, if he wants to. Especially when he’s protecting his pack, you more than the rest.’

Stiles nodded, willing himself to accept it.

⁰○⃝○⁰

The Sheriff just laughed a lot at Stiles, when he got home. Then he hugged him tightly, told him he was so proud, and gave Stiles condoms.

Could’ve gone worse.

⁰○⃝○⁰

Scott and the rest of the pack literally didn’t mention it. Nothing. Lydia winked at him, though, next day in school, when Stiles was shamelessly checking out their new English teacher, a young man with a great ass.

⁰○⃝○⁰

That weekend, Stiles was dragged to Jungle, with the entire pack. He was flustered, but very content, that they were doing this for him.

And he had fun, enjoyed the look on all their faces when the drag queens surrounded Stiles and hugged and kissed him.

When Derek appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, he handed Stiles a glass of something, which upon further inspection, was a simple rum and coke. He didn’t say anything, but Stiles didn’t need him to. Stiles simply grinned, drank the whole glass, and dragged Derek to the dance floor, where he proceeded to make a fool out of himself.

⁰○⃝○⁰

A couple of weeks later, when Derek corners Stiles in a dark lit space of his loft, when the rest of the pack ignores them completely, when Derek takes a deep, shaky breath, when he gently runs his fingers over Stiles’ cheeks, and when Derek kisses him, breathlessly, sweetly, so so sweetly and slow, Stiles can’t help but think about Laura.

What would have been her reaction to this? What would she have thought about Stiles? Would she have liked him? Would she approve? Would she have teased them?

When he says as much out loud, Derek glares, slightly.

‘I just poured my heart out, and you’re thinking about my dead sister?’

‘You poured your heart out?’, Stiles scoffs. ‘You didn’t even say anything.’

‘Do you need me to say anything?’, Derek raises an eyebrow.

‘Not really’, Stiles says, somewhat angrily. Then he sighs, and wrapps his fingers around Derek’s. ‘Not really’, he says again, the softness in his voice surprising even himself.

Derek smiles then, and tightens his hold on Stiles’ fingers.

‘Laura would have loved you. And she would have figured it out, figured us out, long before I did.’

Derek tilts his head then, thinking. ‘She probably would have egged Lyubov’s car, too.’

Stiles laughs at that, loudly, too loud in the silence that surrounds them. Derek laughs too, but then he kisses Stiles, again, and their laughs are replaced with shaky breaths.


	18. Kinky misunderstandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [wabbitwanderer95](http://wabbitwanderer95.tumblr.com/) _asked for a thing, with Danny getting Stiles Double Stuffed Oreos and Derek’s mind going dirty._
> 
> So. Here are 5 times Derek’s mind went kinky, and one time Stiles’ did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's assume that after 3a, Derek and Cora just left for a little while.

**→One**

‘I hate living in Beacon Hills’, Stiles seethed, staring angrily out the window.

‘No, you don’t’, Scott rolled his eyes.

‘Yes, I do. We only get basic things’, Stiles sighed, deeply, ‘nothing special, no limited editions, nothing.’

‘You’re ridiculous’, Scott said, exasperated and fond. He turned his head to the door, hearing Cora and Derek coming up the stairs, but Stiles didn’t notice.

‘Now, Danny. Danny understands my pain.’

‘Danny’s in San Francisco’, Scott frowned, listening to Derek’s keys jingle in the lock.

‘Yeah’, Stiles’ voice was excited now, ‘and when he’ll come back, he’ll get me double stuffed.’

\---

Derek and Cora walked in, then.

Derek was blushing, he knew he was, but as soon as he focused on what Stiles was saying, as soon as he heard the words, he imagined it. He didn’t know that Stiles and Danny were so… close, but he could see it. Vividly.

‘Why are you here?’, Cora finally asked.

‘We have a problem’, Stiles took a step towards them, his tone instantly turning business-like. ‘Coach got an assistant, and he’s evil.’

Cora scoffed, turning to Derek. ‘He’s not evil, he’s just a vampire.’

‘Whaaaaaaaat’, Stiles all but screeched, making Cora turn to scoff at him.

‘He’s a vampire, a vegan one. He only drinks animals, and I gave him the talk already.’

‘What talk?’, Scott asked, weary.

‘The talk in which I explained that if he ever harms a human, you’ll stake his heart.’

Cora grinned, and Scott nodded, disturbed but thankful.

‘I have a phone’, Derek said, the first thing that came to his mind. ‘You could’ve called.’

‘Where’s the fun in that?’, Stiles winked at him.

‘You’re disgusting’, Cora muttered under her breath. Derek blushed again, but willed himself not to react in any other way.

Scott smirked, before grabbing Stiles and dragging him away.

**→Two**

‘Derek’, Stiles answered the phone with a sigh, and Derek really hated that after all they’ve been through, he still had that effect on the human. But he pushed through it.

‘I want to know more about the vampire’.

Stiles moaned, making Derek freeze.

‘I’m sorry’, Stiles panted, ‘Lydia was just giving me-‘

He didn’t finish the sentence, moaning again, louder this time.

Derek stood frozen in place, for a couple of more seconds, for a couple of more of Stiles’ moans, enough to hear the distinct sound of skin on skin and Lydia’s sharp intake of breaths.

The fact that Stiles was having sex with Lydia wasn’t surprising for him, not really, but the fact that he answered the phone, that was.

‘If you’re busy’, Derek growled, ‘then don’t answer your fucking phone.’

He hung up without another word.

‘Are you still denying your feelings for him?’, Cora asked, casually.

Derek growled, but he didn’t dare deny it out loud. She would hear him lying.

He promised himself he wouldn’t think about it anymore, so when he sees Stiles a couple of hours later, he doesn’t notice that he can’t smell any traces of sex.

 

**→Three**

Derek liked to run in the morning. Before having breakfast, but after having coffee, he ran a few blocks around the neighborhood, taking comfort in the silence of the still waking up city, and he ran a while in the Preserve too, gathering strength from his woods.

He usually got home after Cora left for school, so Derek was very surprised one Monday morning, when he came home from his run only to find Cora and Stiles in the loft.  

He was laying on the floor, sweaty and flushed, panting pretty heavily, and Cora was on top of him, straddling his hips, grinning widely. Both of their hearts were beating somewhat rapidly, but they were fully clothed.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be in school?’, Derek asked, around the lump in his throat.

‘We’re going’, Cora grinned, easily getting up and extending a hand to Stiles. She lifted him up, and Stiles hugged her briefly, before mock glaring at her.

‘One of these days, we’ll get to finish’.

It sounded like a promise to Derek’s ears, so he got out of there, running straight to the shower.

Again, he was too distressed to notice the distinct lack of arousal in the air.

 

**→Four**

Derek stopped and listened before knocking on Stiles’ front door.

‘No, Scott, not like that!’, Stiles was whining.

‘It’s fine’, Scott was panting.

‘It’s not, that’s not how it’s supposed to go’, Stiles was having trouble breathing too.

‘Just let me push harder’.

‘Not like that’, Stiles whined. ‘Like this.’

Then, Derek heard wood creaking. And it kept creaking.

‘Fuck, Scott’, Stiles panted again, ‘you’re a werewolf, you’re supposed to be good at this.’

‘That doesn’t have anything to do with it’, Scott said, and Derek heard the distinct sound of skin hitting skin.

Stiles moaned. ‘Do that again.’

Derek left. Ran, really. Again, he wasn’t surprised, he was just hurt. Too hurt to notice the empty Ikea boxes piled around the trash cans. 

 

**→Five**

When Sheriff Stilinski asked Derek to help him with some old cases, he didn’t think he’d spend most of the day in the Stilinski’s dining room.

But that’s exactly what he did.

Stiles only came down twice, once at noon when he woke up, and he made sandwiches and coffee for everyone, and again around 4pm, when he ordered pizza.

Allison came at 5, her hands filled with bags and barely paying them any attention as she went straight to Stiles’ room.

Derek didn’t ask the Sheriff, even though he wanted to.

He didn’t listen to what was happening in Stiles’ bedroom either, but an hour later, Stiles’ angry growl made him tune in.

‘If you don’t take off your clothes right now, Allison, I swear to god I’ll rip them off myself.’

Allison scoffed. ‘Like you could.’

‘Don’t test me, sweetheart’, Stiles seethed, sounding oddly powerful.

Derek heard Allison gulp. ‘That was strangely hot.’

‘I know’, Stiles giggled. ‘Now, seriously, get naked.’

Derek didn’t listen in anymore, and he left before Isaac came to pick Allison up.

 

**→Plus one**

Derek came out of the shower, only to find Stiles panting in his loft.

He was also dripping blood. Stiles was covered in blood.

‘There’s a whole coven of dead witches in the woods’, his voice was shaky. ‘My dad and the rest of the pack are cleaning it up, but they wouldn’t let me go home alone.’

‘Are you hurt?’, Derek’s brain finally kicked in.

Stiles shook his head, pretty violently. ‘I just killed a coven of witches, and there’s not even a scratch on me.’

Derek opened his mouth, but Stiles cut him off.

‘Can I use your shower, please? I really want it off’, his voice broke.

‘You’re in shock.’

‘No shit, Sherlock’, Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘I’ll be fine once I get this damn blood off of me.’

Derek wordlessly led him to the shower, and brought him a clean set of clothes.

Stiles spent a long time under the water spray, and Derek heard him crying, gasping for air every now and then. Derek didn’t go in, no matter how much he wanted to. But he did leave the door open and waited for Stiles right outside of the bathroom.

He looked better when he came out, wearing Derek’s clothes and his wet hair plastered to his forehead.

‘You called for help?’, was the first thing Derek asked, because the guilt was already eating at him.

Stiles shook his head. ‘I didn’t have the time. I called my dad after it was done. He got the rest of the pack, but you-‘

‘I was in the shower’, Derek sighed. 'Didn't hear the phone ringing.'

Stiles nodded, and wordlessly went to the couch, all but collapsing on it and closing his eyes.

‘What do you need?’, Derek asked him.

‘Close proximity to you’, Stiles didn’t miss a beat in answering.

It shocked Derek into silence, but he did make his way towards the couch, sitting on the coffee table, not wanting to take his eyes off Stiles.

‘You’re still shaking’, Derek said after a while.

‘As you said’, Stiles answered without opening his eyes, ‘shock.’

‘Do you want me to call Melissa?’, Derek tried, but Stiles shook his head.

‘I just wish’, he groaned, ‘that witches wouldn’t need so much virgin blood in their rituals.’

Derek stopped breathing.

Stiles opened his eyes after a few long, silent moments. ‘What?’, he asked Derek, clearly confused.

‘You’re a virgin?’

Stiles rolled his eyes, closing them again. ‘You could stop rubbing it in my face like that.’

Derek flushed, instantly. Once again, he was silent for too long, because Stiles opened his eyes again. But this time, upon seeing Derek’s expression, Stiles smirked.

‘That was a pretty good innuendo, actually.’

It was Derek’s turn to close his eyes, willing his blush away and his heart to calm down.

‘What about Danny?’, he couldn’t help but ask.

‘What about Danny?’, Stiles scoffed. ‘Never in a million years would Danny look at me.’

‘Lydia?’, Derek went on.

‘Way over it’, Stiles shrugged, ‘Have been for a while now.’

‘Scott?’

‘Ew’, was all Stiles said, with feeling.

‘Allison?’

‘She’s got enough dudes mooning over her.’ There was a pause. ‘Heh, mooning.’, Stiles smirked.

‘Cora?’, Derek asked, and this time, his voice was too high pitched.

‘Wrong Hale’, Stiles didn’t hesitate in answering.

Once again, Derek faltered at that. He stopped breathing, his heart beat sped up and his eyes grew wide. His whole face was probably red.

It made Stiles sit up on the couch, right in front of Derek. His knees easily went between Derek’s, Stiles pressing their legs together, as much as the position allowed him to.

He didn’t once look away from Derek, and Derek couldn’t look away either, not even when he felt both of Stiles’ hands coming up on Derek’s leg, very high on his thigh.

‘What’ya say, big guy?’, Stiles smirked. ‘Wanna… rub that’, his eyes pointedly skipped to Derek’s crotch, ‘in my face? To save me from the witches?’

‘I don’t want to save you from the witches’, Derek said, quickly.

Stiles’ smirk fell, as he blinked.

‘I just want you’, Derek said after taking a deep breath.

It made Stiles smile, all hints of cockiness gone. Stiles smiled softly and fondly, and Derek put his hands over Stiles’, where they were still on his upper thighs.

‘After you stop shaking because of shock.’, Derek told him with as much authority as he could.

Stiles pouted, of course he did, but he also wordlessly got up and went straight to Derek’s bed. After he made himself comfortable, Derek couldn’t even see his face anymore in all the bedding, Stiles stretched a hand outside of the nest of sheets, and made a complicated gesture with his fingers.

‘Get in here, you doofus’, Stiles mumbled, and Derek only heard it because he was a werewolf. ‘It’s cuddle time.’

It took a while, for Derek to move, but a whine coming from his bed made him all but run under the sheets.

Stiles and Derek wordlessly wrapped themselves around each other, and it took a couple of minutes, but Stiles did stop shaking.

Derek breathed a sigh of relief when that happened, and when he breathed in again, he smelled arousal. Heavy arousal, and it wasn’t coming from him.

‘Stiles’, he sighed, ‘stop thinking about sex and go to sleep.’

‘I can’t’, Stiles whined, all but shoving his face in the curve of Derek’s neck. ‘I always think about sex when you’re around.’

One of Stiles’ hands moved into dangerous territory.

‘And you’re _really_ around’, there was a smirk in Stiles’ voice, and it only made Derek … be more around.

‘Your puns are awful’, is what Derek decided on saying, pointedly grabbing a hold of Stiles hand and putting it away, on his chest. He didn’t let go, though.

‘My puns are awesome’, Stiles mumbled. ‘You love my puns, I know you do.’

Derek huffed. ‘Please sleep.’

‘Make me.’ All playfulness was gone from Stiles’ voice, it was now flirty and challenging.

It made Derek want to accept the challenge, but thankfully, he had half of mind not to.

‘I could knock you out’, he tried, but Stiles just smirked, again.

‘I bet you could, big guy.’, Stiles all but purred, and really-

‘Stop’, Derek groaned.

‘Make me’, Stiles said again.

‘Please’, Derek added, a lot more subdued, and he paired it with a kiss on Stiles’ temple.

Stiles sighed. ‘Fine, only because you asked so nicely.’

He got more comfortable, wiggling around for a while, but Stiles did calm down and closed his eyes, still snuggling up to Derek.

‘You’re still rubbing things in my face later’, he said just before falling asleep, and Derek was really looking forward to that, even if he’d never admit it out loud to Stiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case it was unclear:
> 
> One: Danny was bringing Stiles double stuffed Oreos  
> Two: Lydia was giving Stiles a massage  
> Three: Cora and Stiles were training  
> Four: Scott and Stiles were building an Ikea cupboard.  
> Five: Allison had a date, and Stiles was helping her get ready.


	19. Five times Derek sent Stiles some really weird texts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by these tumblr posts: [one](http://whofvckncares.tumblr.com/post/119822714229/ah-yes-i-love-receiving-messages-from-white-boys), [two](http://fragile--pieces.tumblr.com/post/95357409041), [three](http://imgur.com/XoiCLkO), [four](http://disneygentsfromlastnight.tumblr.com/post/131289253632), [five](http://fandomshitstorm.tumblr.com/post/116711626266/babymamabond-mehjerome-brattylifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's a fun quicky ^.^

**→One**

_Derek: Are you still gay?  
Derek: I’m bored_

Stiles stared, for more than he was comfortable admitting, a whirlwind of thoughts going through his head.

On one hand, yes, yes Stiles was still gay, and yes, he most definitely was very attracted to Derek.

But, one the other hand… what?

It was 3am on a school night, Stiles was 200 miles away, safely tucked away in his dorm room at collage, and Derek has never ever shown any interest in him.

So, Stiles called Derek.

He picked up after barely a ring, and the first thing Stiles heard was loud, very loud music. Then, it took a couple of seconds, but the music gradualy died down.

‘Stiles!’, Derek said. Sweetly.

It was very disconcerting.

‘Are you in a club?’, Stiles asked, his voice rough from sleep.

‘Jungle’, Derek answered, easily.

‘Are you drunk?’

‘Yes’, there was no hesitation on Derek’s part. ‘Are you still gay?’

Stiles sighed, furiously rubbing at his eyes. ‘Bisexual, dude. We’ve had this conversation before.’

‘Good enough for me’, Derek giggled.

He actually giggled. Stiles stared at his phone.

‘Go home, Derek’, he finally sighed.

‘No.’

‘Please?’

‘No.’

‘Fine’, Stiles huffed. ‘Then go to the bar and order some water.’

‘Fine’.

Stiles stayed on the phone until he heard Derek yell for water. After that, it was clear that Derek forgot he had called Stiles.

So, after certain deliberation, Stiles called Scott. Who grumbled, and cursed, but did pick up Derek 15 minutes later.

Stiles didn’t go back to sleep until Scott texted him that Derek was safely snoring back at his place, and in the morning, the only thing Derek said was _thank you_ and _I’m sorry_. Stiles did his best to forget it ever happened.

 

**→Two**

The next month was hell for Stiles. Between the ridiculous amount of essays he had to write, and the exams he had to take, he barely slept, eat or breathe, really.

And on top of that, because of the stress, he was a jerk. A massive asshole, douchebag, jerk. He realized it, but he couldn’t stop. So he got in a massive fight with Scott, who stopped talking to him altogether. He yelled at Lydia, who promptly told him to take some Xanax.

At one point, Stiles called his father, and that conversation ended with Stiles sobbing in a corner of his room, and his father fondly calling him an idiot.

The moment he was done with exams, Stiles curled up in his bed with a huge pizza and cried, a lot. In exhaustion or anger, he didn’t even know.

He didn’t know what to expect when his phone started dinging, but it surely wasn’t Derek.

 _Derek: Scott will get over it, and Lydia’s already over it._  
Derek: Really, they should’ve expected this.  
Derek: I mean…  
Derek: You suck sometimes.  
Derek: But I’d do anything for you.  
Derek: We all would.

Stiles fell asleep with a smile on his face.

 

**→Three**

Fairies were the bane of Stiles’ existence, even when he was 200 miles away from his pack.

His pack, which fought the evil fairies, and managed to defeat them, with only little… drawbacks. They were all fine, but Derek got… some kind of curse. He was talking nonsense, Scott texted Stiles, but he was going to be fine in the morning, Deaton assured them.

So of course Derek started texting Stiles.

 _Derek: I have never been this high in my life_  
Stiles: Can you move?  
Derek: Why ,am I in the way  
Stiles: I dunno, is there anyone around? For you to be in the way of?  
Derek: I’m alone   
Derek: I don’t like being alone  
Derek: I wanna be in someone’s way

Stiles called him, again, and listened to Derek talking nonsense until the wolf started snoring, in the middle of a story about Laura and her high school boyfriend. Again, in the morning, all Derek said was _thank you_ and _I’m sorry_.

 

**→Four**

_Derek: I have a challenge for you!_  
Derek: Go find one of your college friends or whatever  
Derek: Someone who doesn’t know me  
Derek: And let them read some of our texts  
Derek: I want to know if they say we’re married  
Derek: Cause we are. We’re married as fuck

Stiles laughed for a while at the texts that came in the middle of the night, but in the morning, he did as Derek asked.

Annabeth was a nice girl, kinda crazy and very smart, and she and Stiles clicked over their love for black coffee and a couple of classes they shared.

At breakfast that day, Annabeth read his and Derek’s texts from the past week, and then demanded to see a picture of him. She stared at the picture for a few long moments, then gaped at Stiles.

‘You act like you’ve been married for years, so if you don’t bang this gorgeous piece of ass next time you’re home, I will never speak to you again!’

Stiles blushed all the way down to his toes.

He told Derek about the part that Annabeth said about them being married, but he didn’t tell him about the other thing.

 

**→Five**

Stiles was very happy to be back home. Even if it was for a short holiday, he was ready for all the comfort his dad and his pack would bring him.

He would never say it out loud, but Stiles was excited to see Derek. Even if Derek was out of town at the moment, and it’ll take a couple of days to come back to Beacon Hills.

Stiles texted Derek when he got home, of course he did, and Derek quickly answered.

 _Derek: You_  
Derek: I’m taking you somewhere when I get home  
Stiles: Where and why?  
Derek: The city and because I want to  
Derek: I haven’t been in a while  
Stiles: But I’m a poor college student  
Derek: It’s called a fucking date  
Derek: I pay for you

Stiles stared. A lot. An embarrassing amount of time. His dad came in and read the texts over his shoulders, chuckled and said ‘That’s nice of him’ and Stiles still hasn’t moved.

Derek texted again 20 minutes later.

_Derek: I’ll take your silence as a yes_

Stiles laughed at that, because it was such a Derek think to do. Disguise a question with an order.

_Stiles: Sure, big guy. I’ll make sure to get over the shock by then.  
Derek: Is it really that shocking?_

Stiles smirked.

_Stiles: Not really, if I think about it.  
Derek: Stop thinking about it, and start thinking about me._

Stiles blushed, making an embarrassing sound, completely ignoring his father laughing in the background.

_Stiles: You’re so cute ohmygod stahp  
Derek: Never!   
Stiles: Just… get here soon, yeah?  
Derek: As soon as I can. _ _I miss you.  
_ _Stiles: You’re killing me  
_ _Derek: Are you blushing yet?  
_ _Stiles: ohmygod who are you?!  
_ _Derek: Hi, my name is Derek Hale and I am quite infatuated with an asshole called Stiles Stilinski  
_ _Stiles: Well good thing that asshole is equally infatuated with you  
_ _Derek: :D  
_ _Stiles: : <  
_ _Derek: <3  
_ _Stiles: … <3_


	20. MANSIZE KLEENEX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this post](http://masculinityissofragile.tumblr.com/post/129959680927/man-size-kleenex-for-my-male-tears).
> 
> Stiles says he brought them for Derek’s man-tears. Derek understands something... else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for [Vici](http://mysnarkyself.tumblr.com/)  
>  <3

It was pretty high up, on Derek’s list of things that surprised him about Stiles, the amount of obsessive work he put in his projects.

Stiles was strong, no doubt about it. He was also stubborn, beyond belief, so when he got an idea, he stuck to it. This was a good trait to have when it came to protecting his friends, for example. Not so much when he got a crazy idea.

Like that one time he spent three months making a database for the outdated filing system the police station had. It was a useful thing to have, but Stiles was banned from the building afterwards.

Or like that time when he volunteered at the library just so he could wash the windows, because “they got on his nerves”.

Or when he learned the Argent’s bestiary by heart.

You get the point.

This month, Stiles’ obsession was writing his own bestiary. And for some reason, he thought Derek would be the best person to help him do it.

Derek didn’t mind, he understood that it was something useful for the pack to have. And it wasn’t hard, having Stiles over every other day, talking and writing for a couple of hours.

That is what brought them here. To an... impasse.

≈⃝≈

‘I brought you something’, Stiles said as he made his way into the loft.

Derek raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s not my birthday.’

‘I know’, Stiles winked. ‘I just saw it in the drugstore and I thought of you.’

Derek narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like the mischievous twinkle in Stiles’ eyes, or the way he was obviously trying not to laugh, as he handed the wolf a bag.

He took it, wearily, as Stiles kept on grinning and urging him on.

Derek sighed and pulled his gift out of the bag.

He paused, when he saw what it was.

‘Mansize’, Stiles said, bouncing on the soles of his feet. ‘For your man-tears.’

Derek sighed.

‘I keep forgetting how… messy you teenagers are.’

‘Messy?’, Stiles frowned.

‘I’m a grown man, Stiles’, Derek rolled his eyes, putting the tissue pack away. ‘I have enough control to …’ he waved a hand around his crotch, ‘to deal with it in a completely not messy manner. Like under the shower’, he said, rather pointedly.

Stiles… was staring at Derek’s crotch.

Understandable, really, Derek set himself up for that.

When Stiles moved his eyes up to Derek’s face, he was still frowning profoundly.

‘You cry… in the shower?’

Derek blinked. ‘Crying? Who said anything about crying?’

Stiles tilted his pain. ‘That’s why I got you the tissues, what did you think?’

‘Uh’, Derek gulped.

Fuck.

This happened. This always happened, with him and Stiles. Stiles would say something, and Derek’s mind would go completely in the gutter. Sometimes, Stiles’ innuendos were intentional, sometimes, they were not.

It was confusing. Derek was confused.

Now, though, he was mortified.

‘Oh my god!’, Stiles yelped, taking a step backwards and blushing furiously.

‘I said man-tears!’, he yelled desperately. ‘Who the hell calls their spunk man-tears?!’

‘How should I know?’, Derek wheezed out. ‘I can’t keep up with your slang.’

‘Dude’, Stiles threw him a look, quieting down, ‘you’re not that much older than us.’

Derek rolled his eyes. ‘Could we just forget this happened?’

‘Sure’, Stiles nodded enthusiastically.

And that was the end of it.

≈⃝≈

Except that it wasn’t.

Stiles kept getting Derek gifts, always using the ‘I saw it and thought of you’ excuse.

But these gifts… they kept getting weirder and weirder.

A pack of cards with famous paintings of kings.

A few bananas.

A little lightsaber keychain that vibrated when you turned it on.

Queer as Folk on DVD.

A pickup lines pocket book.

A month into the ordeal, Stiles got Derek a pack of condoms.

They were XXL.

‘What the hell are you doing?’, Derek asked, sighing deeply.

‘Flirting’, Stiles answered after a beat.

Derek stared at him, bewildered. Stiles stared back, blushing deeply. He then turned around and left.

Derek was still very confused.

≈⃝≈

Stiles didn’t come back. For a week, Derek caught no wind of Stiles.

He was surprised by how much the silence bothered him. So he started thinking about it, really thinking about it, and about Stiles, and Derek realized that he has been an idiot.

So he drove to Stiles’, with a quick detour to the drugstore.

≈⃝≈

When Stiles opened the door, Derek shoved a pack on mansized tissues at his face.

Stiles stared down at them. Then he stared up at Derek. Then he went back to staring down at the tissues.

‘What?’, he finally asked, and Derek took a deep breath.

‘For your man-tears.’

Stiles pulled a face.

‘Or, uh’, Derek went on, tilting his head, ‘whatever it is you kids call your spunk these days.’

‘How many times have I told you?’, Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘You’re not that fucking old.’

Derek raised his eyebrows at him, waiting.

And sure enough, Stiles froze. He also blushed. ‘Uhm, is this-‘, he waved the box around. ‘I mean, what does, what are you doing?’

‘Flirting’, Derek told him, slowly.

‘Oh’, Stiles breathed out, staring at him with wide eyes.

Then he threw the box of tissues into the depth of his room.

‘This is horrible.’, he said, and Derek nodded.

‘We’re awful’, he went on, and once again, Derek nodded.

There was a beat of awkward silence.

‘Do you wanna come in?’, Stiles said, awkwardly pointing towards his room. ‘And uh… make out?’

‘Sure’, Derek replied, just as awkwardly.

But after the door was closed behind them, and after Derek got used to the feel of Stiles in his arms, and his lips against his, things weren’t so awkward anymore.

Not even when they had to stumble in the darkness for the pack of tissues. Because uh, there were _man-tears_.


	21. Turn my frown upside down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This started off from one of [Jim Beaver's facebook posts](http://sasukehateblog.tumblr.com/post/49247324842): _Car service guy was 30 minutes late picking me up at LAX. He texted me before he got there, asking “What are you wearing?”. “A frown”, I texted back. He found me._. It goes on with a human!AU, architect!Derek and single dad!Stiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this ... 6 or 7 months ago? I kept forgetting about it. Sometimes I'd remember and write a couple of hundred words for it. Then I'd forget again and repeat the process.

Derek hated that he had to use a car service. But Laura was right, he’s been on planes and in airports for more than 24 hours. And no matter how much he loved his car and he loved driving, he was exhausted, it probably wasn’t a good idea.

So he had to use the only car service Beacon Hills had, hire someone to pick him up from San Francisco and drive him home.

But nobody was waiting for him once he landed. Usually, the driver would be holding a paper with his name on it, but there was none.

He had a text on his phone, an unknown number who most likely was the driver, because it said ‘I am so sorry, I’m running late, but I’m speeding’.

Well, that’s probably what it said, Derek assumed. Actually, the text spelled _soe sory ranninng leight, but am speding_.

Derek was exhausted. After having spent two weeks working 16 hours a day in Australia, after spending a full 24h in stuffy airports and smelly planes, all he wanted to do was take one of the bubbly baths he’d never admit to liking, and curl up on clean sheets in his familiar apartment.

So Derek cursed, a lot, startling a pair of old ladies that were standing next to him. He apologized, briefly, and all but ran to Starbucks.

25 minutes later, there was another text, from the same number. Everything was spelled properly this time, but it didn’t make things any better.

_What are you wearing?_

Derek looked down at himself. He was wearing light blue jeans and a black Henley. Boring and nothing special. And he was mad at the driver for his tardiness.

So he texted back _A frown_ , and headed outside.

Derek wasn’t there for more than 3 minutes, when he saw a young man all but marching towards him.

He was tall and slim, quite good looking, with bright amber eyes and plush lips. But he was pale, his hair was a mess, his lips looked like he’s been biting on them and the black suit he was wearing was askew, the tie completely untied, hanging loosely around his neck.

‘Mister Hale?’, the man panted, and Derek nodded.

‘I apologize profoundly’, he went on, his whole demeanor getting professional. ‘I had to…’, he shook his head. ‘It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry, and our company will refund you completely.’

Derek blinked. ‘That won’t be necessary.’

‘It is’, the man said with conviction, shaking his head again before straightening his back. ‘My name is Stiles, I’ll be your driver for today. Let me help you with your bags.’

Stiles didn’t wait for Derek to answer, he just grabbed Derek’s suitcases, which annoyed him, and started heading towards the car, a luxurious black suv with the company logo painted on the doors.

‘You might want to sit in the front’, Stiles said without looking at him, struggling to put the bags in the trunk.

‘I don’t like sitting in the front when I’m not driving’, Derek growled, making Stiles flinch.

‘There’s a 5 year old girl crying in the back seat.’

Derek’s jaw dropped.

‘Which is the reason I was late, I had to pick her up.’

That mellowed Derek, somewhat, and he couldn’t help but think about Laura’s twins, whom he missed terribly and got them so many gifts he had to give up on a couple of his clothes.

‘It’s fine’, Derek sighed. ‘I’m surprisingly good with kids, as my sister keeps telling me.’

Stiles sighed, relieved. ‘Thank you, Mr. Hale.’

‘Derek’, he said, lower that he intended to. Stiles flushed, much to Derek’s amusement, and got inside the car without saying anything else.

≈≈≈

Derek didn’t know what to expect when he got into the car, but it wasn’t this.

As Stiles said, there was a crying girl in a red booster seat. She had red curls and bright green eyes, and she was adorable, even if there were big crocodile tears falling on her rosy cheeks.

She was wearing a pair of combat pants, a Black Widow shirt that looked like she painted it herself, and bright pink sneakers. She had a little plushy in a hand, a wolf, Derek thought, and a handkerchief in the other.

When she saw Derek, she quickly blew her nose and wiped at her face, looking at him with big eyes.

‘Hello, Mister.’, she said with a slight lisp. ‘I’m really sorry daddy was late because of me.’

‘It’s okay’, Derek smiled at her. ‘I hope that’s not why you’re crying?’

She shook her head, slowly. ‘I’m just really sorry.’

She sounded pitiful, and Derek spared a glimpse in the rearview mirror, on the pain sketched on Stiles’ face.

‘It’s okay, pumpkin’, he said, failing to sound cheerful. ‘See, Mister Hale here isn’t mad, I’m not mad, and I’m sure Erica is going to forgive you.’

‘I ruined her birthday party’, the little girl said, furiously wiping at her tears.

‘I’m not gonna lie, yes you did.’, Stiles said, softly, ignoring the way Derek glared at him.

‘But’, Stiles went on. ‘This would have never happened if Erica’s parents weren’t stupid, idiotic bastards.’

‘You said a bad word’, the kid whispered. ‘A couple of them.’

‘Yup’, Stiles piped up. ‘And I’ll most likely say a bunch more today.’

Nobody said anything more, but Stiles still looked crushed, and the little girl kept crying.

As gently as he could, Derek tapped her shoulder. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Lucia’, she sniffed. ‘But everybody who likes me calls me Lucy.’

‘I’m Derek’, he smiled. ‘It’s very nice to meet you.’

‘I’m really sorry, Mister Derek.’

She sounded so sad, Derek wanted to hug her and cover her in candy. Which was weird, considering she was a stranger’s kid whom he just met 5 minutes ago.

‘You’ve got nothing to be sorry for, not for me. Promise.’

She nodded, slowly, and then Stiles piped up.

‘Mister Derek is an architect’, he casually said, acting like it was normal for him to know that. ‘That means’, Stiles went on, ‘that he’s the one who thinks about how to build houses. Where to put the rooms, and the walls, and what to make the walls out of. And he draws them down and other people build them.’

‘That sounds cool’, Lucy said, turning to Derek. ‘Cre.. Cre-a-tive.’

Derek smiled at the stammer. ‘It is, I do like it a lot.’

‘I like drawing’, Lucy blushed.

‘Maybe Mister Derek here can talk to you about the importance of drawing on paper’, Stiles mumbled, ‘not on every white surface you find, like walls and my laptop.’

Derek stifled a laugh, as Lucy blushed harder.

‘I said I was sorry, Daddy’.

‘I know’, Stiles smiled at her through the rearview mirror. ‘But that doesn’t mean I can’t milk it.’

Lucy frowned. ‘I don’t get it, I don’t have milk.’

Stiles and Derek both snorted, but Stiles was the one to spend the next minute explaining the expression to his daughter.

In fact, Derek spent the rest of the drive listening to Stiles explain things to Lucy, random things, like what different street signs meant, or where clouds came from and a lot of other random bits. Gradually, Lucy calmed down and the crying stopped completely, and Derek saw Stiles relax as well.

By the time they got to Derek’s apartment building, Lucy was laughing and Stiles was smiling, and Derek left with a smile on his face too.

≈≈≈

Derek and Laura were both architects, and they were both good architects. They both worked a lot, even after Laura gave birth, and their firm had projects all over the world.

They were swimming in money, so every now and then, they’d do some pro bono work. This was a normal occurrence.

What wasn’t normal, was for Laura to pick something they have never done before, in Beacon Hills. Derek wasn’t sure he understood what his sister was saying.

‘The Sheriff wants to build a new Police station’, Derek said slowly, ‘from the ground up.’

‘Yup’, Laura grinned. ‘City Hall gave him a nice slot downtown, and he can’t pay us, but they can afford the materials. The Mayor is pitching in too.’

Laura was excited. Clearly. Which meant-

‘We’re going to pay to get them better materials, aren’t we?’

‘Yup’, she grinned again. ‘And we’re going to design them the best Police station ever. Modern but classy, nice and beautiful, functional and pretty.’

Derek narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

‘The only thing we did in this town has been a quite horrible office building’, Laura started slowly, and Derek knew that this was going to get emotional.

‘Those are not important’, she went on. ‘We never gave back to the town. To the people. They’ve always been there for us.’

He knew what she was talking about. After the fire that killed their family, Derek and Laura were always fed and clothed, by strangers and people they barely knew. But they were taken care of.

And after they returned from New York, years later, when they settled back in Beacon Hills and started their firm, they were welcomed back as if they never left.

It’s a blur to Derek, but he does remember perfectly how much the Sheriff helped them right after. He was only a deputy when the fire happened, but he was there almost always.

‘Sheriff Stilinski is going to retire in a couple of years’, Laura said, clearly knowing what Derek was thinking. ‘He says this is the last thing he’s going to do for the town.’

Derek took a deep breath. ‘Then we’ll do our best to help him with it.’

Laura grinned, clapping her hands excitedly, before giving him a big hug.

≈≈≈

The Sheriff invited them to dinner, to talk some basics about the project. Derek didn’t expect a very familiar face to open the door.

‘Mister Derek!’, Lucy grinned.

‘What are you doing here?’, he asked, obviously surprised.

‘Grandpa is making lasagna’, she frowned, ‘Of course I’m here.’

Derek blinked. ‘The Sheriff is your Grandpa?’

‘D’uh’, Lucy rolled her eyes, boldly grabbing a hold of Derek’s hand and dragging him inside.

Then, she turned around and looked to Laura, waving at her.

‘Hi, I’m Lucy.’

‘Nice to meet you, Lucy’, Laura was fighting back a laugh, ‘I’m Laura, Derek’s sister.’

‘I want a sister’, Lucy says, instantly. ‘But Daddy says he loves me too much to love anybody else.’

Laura all but melted right then, and it was Derek’s turn to keep himself from laughing.

‘And how does your daddy know Derek?’, is what Laura asked next, raising an eyebrow at Derek.

‘He drove me when I came home from Australia’, he explained. ‘Lucy was there.’

Laura was going to ask more, so Derek turned to Lucy again.

‘Did uh… Erica forgive you?’

Lucy grinned. ‘Yes. She said that her parents were stupid, that they shouldn’t have made me get in the pool, because they knew I almost drowned and didn’t like water.’

Neither of them managed to say anything to that, but thankfully, they didn’t have to, because the Sheriff came to get them.

≈≈≈

Ten minutes later, they were all sitting at the dining room table, waiting for the food to be ready, when the front door opened. Lucy bolted to the hallway, shrieking ‘Daddy!’ over and over again, and sure enough, Stiles came in with his hands full of child.

Laura introduced herself, and Stiles blushed when he shook Derek’s hand, but they all sat down and had a nice dinner.

They didn’t talk anything about the project, they talked more about Derek and Laura’s other projects, interrupting only when Lucy had a question.

After dinner, she went to watch tv, and they got to business.

‘I know what I would want’, The Sheriff said, ‘but Stiles knows what the legislation is, for a Police station.’

‘Why?’, Derek asked because he could control himself.

Stiles shrugged. ‘I got bored one night.’

‘So you… learned architectural legislation for a police station?’, Laura asked, slowly.

‘ADD is a hell of a thing’, Stiles grinned.

Neither Laura nor Derek were convinced, but it didn’t take long to figure out that Stiles knew what he was talking about.

They listened, to him and the Sheriff both, and Derek already had ideas running in his head. The longer he heard the Stilinski men talking, the more excited he got.

At one point, they took a break, and the Sheriff went to put Lucy to bed, leaving them only with Stiles.

‘Do you still live here?’, Laura asked him, as blunt as ever.

‘No’, Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘But Lucy likes sleeping here sometimes. And Dad likes to give me a break.’

‘Give… you and your wife a break?’, Laura raised an eyebrow, and both of the men just looked at her.

Then, Stiles snorted. He very dramatically examined his hands, all but shoving them in his face.

‘Would you look at that’, he said, highly sarcastic, ‘it appears I’m not married!’

Laura kept frowning, and Stiles dropped the sarcasm.

‘I adopted Lucy two years ago, after I saw her crack head of a mom shove her into a pool.’

‘Oh my god’, Laura whispered.

‘She understands that I’m not her real dad’, Stiles shrugged, ‘but we love each other just as well. And her mother killed herself in prison, so good riddance.’

Laura looked horrified, and Derek knew he probably wasn’t far from it.

‘I know what you’re thinking’, Stiles rolled his eyes again, ‘that it isn’t fair to raise her without a mother because I grew up without a mother, and I know how much that sucks, but I’m doing my best.’

‘Sweetie’, Laura said somewhat horrified, ‘nobody is thinking that. You’re … amazing.’

Stiles blinked at that, for a while, and oddly enough, looked to Derek. Who surprised himself by telling Stiles that he’s a superhero.

‘Thank you’, Stiles said, very subdued, just as the Sheriff came in.

They all tried to act like nothing happened, and he seemed to buy it. Laura and Derek left an hour later, with a lot of ideas and excitement steadily building.

≈≈≈

Over the next couple of months, Derek and Laura worked on the project. It quickly became Derek’s project, which Laura was okay with, apparently.

Derek worked his ass off, honestly, and Laura made sure to not give him any other work. He enjoyed what he was doing, though, he always enjoyed the concept work. It wasn’t easy, meeting the requirements while respecting the legislation, making everything functional and look well, balancing the price and quality of materials. But Derek liked it, this was his dream job.

He spent a lot of time at the Police Station. Sheriff Stilinski gave him free reign, and Derek was nothing if not committed. He talked with a lot of officers, asking what they needed and trying his best to incorporate everything into the new building.

Every weekend, Derek went to the Stilinski house for dinner, spending a couple of hours afterwards running over the plans with the Sheriff. He usually agreed with everything Derek said, but Derek still felt like he owed it to the Sheriff, and he wanted his reassurance.

Sometimes, Laura joined them. Sometimes, Stiles and Lucy were there too. Derek fell in love with Lucy quickly, but he had a feeling it was a normal occurrence.

What wasn’t normal, was the way Derek felt towards Stiles. He felt drawn to him, irrationally so. He liked Stiles, that much was clear, but the intensity of it scared Derek.

Every time he saw Stiles, he felt butterflies in his stomach, and when they shook hands, Derek had to time it perfectly, with taking a deep breath to keep himself from forgetting to breathe. And every time Stiles surprised Derek with some sort of physical contact, it was hell not to grab him and never let go.

Then, there was the flirting. Derek wasn’t even aware they were doing it most of the time. But then, in the middle of a conversation, Stiles would wink at him or playfully hit his shoulder or smirk in a downright dirty way. And Derek would mentally go over their conversation in his head and realize they’ve been shamelessly flirting for half an hour.

Laura figured it out after a month. She was absolutely ecstatic, and Derek bluntly ignored her.

The Sheriff figured it out after two months, maybe. He didn’t say a word, but he kept smirking, knowingly, at Derek. It was infuriating.

Lucy seemed to enjoy spending time with Derek as much as he enjoyed it, so that was nice.

Stiles… kept on smiling and flirting and never once stepping over an invisible threshold. Derek didn’t like it, but it wasn’t in his plans to try and change it.

≈≈≈

Derek was nervous, a little bit.

He’s been working on the design for about four months, and he was now in the City Hall, in one of the large conference rooms, getting ready to present his work to the mayor, the city council, the Sheriff and a couple of deputies.

Erica told him to calm the fuck down.

He loved her, he really did, he’d be lost without her as his EA, but sometimes, Erica was a bitch.

And then, she was grinning.

‘Sweetcheeks! I’ve been wondering if you were gonna be here!’

Derek turned around and saw Stiles and Lucy coming in. He was grinning, and his daughter was laughing, throwing herself at Erica’s feet.

‘Auntie Erica!’, she screeched. ‘You missed the last boardgame night!’

‘Sorry, love’, Erica smiled, kissing the top of her head. ‘I had to help Derek with his presentation.’

Derek wanted to ask, but he didn’t have to.

‘Stiles and I were friends in highschool’, Erica explained, winking at him.

‘It’s a very small town, isn’t it?’, he rolled his eyes, and Stiles and Erica both snorted.

‘Come on, boss’, she said, letting go of Lucy in favor of fixing Derek’s tie for the fifth time. ‘Time to get this show on the road.’

≈≈≈

Nobody said anything as Derek made his presentation. He waited for questions when he was done.

Lucy raised her hand. ‘Where will I play when I’m visiting Grandpa?’

Stiles groaned, blushing in embarrassment, but Derek only smiled.

‘That’s actually a good question, Lucy. Because your grandfather isn’t the only one who has kids that could come and visit. So you could play in the lounge room at ground level’, he pointed to it, ‘or maybe outside, here. It’s far enough from the area designed for the dogs to make it safe.’

‘But, there are also three spaces that don’t have a use yet.’, Derek pointed at them. ‘That hasn’t been a mistake on my part. I left them clear intentionally, in case the need for something else arises in time. Like a day care, or a place to sleep for people who have to spend the night at the station, victims or prisoner’s friends, or social workers.’ Derek shrugged. ‘Or an extra closet, I don’t know.’

‘One thing, Mr. Hale’, the Sheriff said gruffly. ‘I want a couch in my office.’

Derek grinned, asked Erica to write down the request, and that was that.

They started looking for contractors the next day.

≈≈≈

Building the Police station took five months. Derek was there almost every day, even if he just spent 10 minutes talking to the head of site.

Things got back to normal at the office, so he went back to working on the other project their firm had.

That meant he got to see a lot less of Stiles and Lucy, of the Sheriff. It made Derek sad, sometimes, he missed them, but then he buried himself in his work, and everything was okay.

≈≈≈

Derek got the text around lunch time one day.

_From: Stiles  
We’re having drinks tonight! Rosie’s, 8 o’clock. Bring Laura and her husband, if they find someone to take care of the kids. If not, dad’s fully prepared for a slumber party._

Derek couldn’t really say no, considering there wasn’t even a question.

So he got Laura and Matt, her husband. And when they got to Rosie’s, Stiles wasn’t alone.

Scott was there, his boss and best friend, with Allison, his wife. Erica and Boyd were there too, as well as Lydia and Jackson, of whom Derek has heard a lot of stories.

After introductions were made, shots were bought and bottles of beer and greasy plates of fries and nachos.

Fast forward a couple of hours, Derek was having a pleasant discussion with Allison about arrows and guns, and Stiles joined in every now and then, with a very bad archery pun.

Stiles’ hand was on Derek’s thigh, has been there for a while, but he didn’t mind. He played with it, sometimes, ran his fingers over Stiles’, pinching and scratching. It felt normal.

Things got… blurry, after that.

≈≈≈

Derek woke up with a headache, which wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was the fact that he was sleeping on Laura’s couch.

When he made his way to the kitchen, both her and her husband started laughing.

‘What did I do?’, Derek asked, very apprehensive.

‘Not much’, Laura kept giggling. ‘It wasn’t terribly embarrassing, but you refused to let go of me, saying you wanted a sleepover.’

Derek groaned.

‘It’s okay, man’, Matt grinned. ‘Could’ve been worse, I was afraid you were going to jump on Stiles for a while there.’

Derek groaned again, hiding his face behind his hands.

‘You didn’t’, Laura piped up. ‘I don’t think he would’ve minded it, though.’

Derek just kept groaning through breakfast.

≈≈≈

Stiles came to see him when lunchtime came around. He brought coffee and pizza for them both, so Derek took him out on the balcony attached to his office, which had a small table and two chairs.

They ate treading small talk, but it was okay.

‘Hey so. Do you need any help with the opening?’, Stiles asked at one point.

Derek shook his head. ‘We’ve got it covered. And by _we_ , I mean Laura and Erica.’

‘Ah’, Stiles nodded. ‘Are we staying away from them?’

Derek snorted. ‘That is a luxury I don’t exactly have, it being my project and all. But I am doing my best to keep them in check.’

‘Right’, Stiles said a bit slowly. ‘Well if I can help with anything-‘

‘You’ve done enough, Stiles’, Derek smiled, surprising the other man.

He didn’t want to explain, really, but Stiles insisted, with a complicated, but demanding wiggle of eyebrows.

‘This was my project’, Derek said slowly. ‘Laura gave me full reigns.’

‘I figured as much’, Stiles said quickly.

‘I’m very proud of it’, Derek admitted. ‘But I couldn’t have done it without you. And the Sheriff, and the deputies. Without your input, it would just have been a perfectly functional building. But it’s more than that.’

It didn’t make a lot of sense, Derek thought. He was never good with words. But Stiles smiled, looking like he understood.

‘It’s been great getting to know you’, Stiles said quickly. Then his eyes grew wide and he blushed, looking like he regretted the words that came out of his mouth.

Derek laughed. Loudly.

‘You’re a good man, Stiles’, he said after he calmed down. ‘And your daughter brings out the sun.’

‘That’s a weird thing to say about the Devil’, Stiles scrunched up his nose.

Derek snorted at that, and the conversation flowed back to simpler territories, until it was time for Stiles to leave and for Derek to go back to work.

He ignored the looks Erica sent his way.

≈≈≈

The official opening of the new Police station was going to be a party.

There were tables with finger food and drinks in the gardens, the station itself was fully open to the public. The deputies will be giving tours to anyone interested, Stiles will be in charge of the children.

When Derek got there in the morning, it was chaos. A good one, though. The deputies were laughing, milling around the space, discovering everything.

More than once, they came to congratulate Derek, shake his hand and thank him. More than once, Laura was hugged and lifted up in the air.

Derek’s morning was filled with the rush of preparation, with exclamations of _oh my god_ and _that is so cool_. It was also filled with Stiles, whose screams were the loudest.

Everybody was excited and happy and Derek was exhausted and in higher spirits than ever before.

He got a minute to himself when he went home to change into a suit. It had been a lot of work, these past months. And if it were a normal job, he would have been able to afford a couple of vacations in Hawaii.

But Derek didn’t regret it, not one bit.

He never understood the concept of a _soul project_ , not before this. But this Police station, Derek knew he will never forget it.

Not just because of how well it turned out, but because of what it meant and how it changed him.

It meant the world, for him and Laura both, to be able to give back to Beacon Hills. He wasn’t even aware of how much he wanted, _needed_ to do that, not until now. Now, when he felt content, when he felt glad, happy to have done it.

The changes in Derek came from the people around him, this new array of people he developed a friendship with.

The Sheriff, who called him son and always put a piece of chocolate in Derek’s coffee. Stiles, whose touch sent shivers through Derek’s skin and whose smiles were imprinted behind Derek’s eyelids. Lucy, who felt comfortable in Derek’s hands, whom he wanted to keep there for the rest of his life. The deputies, who called him  _Hale_ but also _dude_ , who saw him at his worst, after sleepless nights and still wearing pajamas, who didn’t blink an eye, just offered a chair and a good joke. Scott and Allison, who were the type of people Derek could talk with about anything. Lydia and Jackson, who were ridiculously high class but forgot to show it when they were surrounded by their friends.

Derek’s thoughts were interrupted when his phone signaled a text.

Stiles sent him a picture, of the Sheriff and Lucy in his new office. They were sitting on the couch, the Sheriff with a terribly pleased expression on his face, with Lucy sitting in his lap, looking wide-eyed at something across the room.

 _Better hurry back_ , Stiles had texted. _I’m going to need you to help me convince Lucy NOT to have a sleepover here._

Who was he kidding?, Derek thought. They both knew everybody was going to agree with Lucy.

≈≈≈

Derek was very surprised by the big hug he got from the Sheriff. It took a while, but Derek eventually relaxed into the older man’s tight hold.

‘I did well?’, he asked, voice very subdued, because for him, nobody else’s opinion mattered. He did this for Stiles’ father, and it was his praise he craved.

‘Thank you’, the Sheriff said with a hitch in his breath.

It meant the world to Derek.

Just as much as it meant for him the fact that Lucy all but tackled him to the ground as soon as he was out of the Sheriff's hold.

‘I’ve never seen Grandpa cry’, she whispered in Derek’s ear. ‘But he said it was happy crying.’

Derek had to sit down at that, but he took Lucy with him. He didn’t cry, he willed himself not to, but that didn’t stop Lucy from giggling and rubbing his arms in a soothing manner.

That’s how Stiles found them, a couple of minutes later, and he snapped a picture before sitting down next to them on the couch.

He didn’t say anything for a while, just smiling at Lucy and running his fingers through her hair.

‘Did Erica tell you about the speech you’re supposed to be making?’, Stiles finally said, making Derek sigh.

‘Just gimme a minute.’

‘I’ll give you five’, Stiles snorted. ‘And a glass of whisky, if you want.’

Derek shook his head, pushing his face into Lucy’s hair, making her giggle.

Stiles was silent for two more minutes.

‘Derek, buddy’, he said, highly amused, ‘are you aware that you are using my daughter’s hair as a coping mechanism?’

Lucy giggled at that. ‘It’s okay, Daddy. I wanna stay here with Derek as long as he needs me to.’

Derek melted at that, and it gave him enough strength to consider letting go of her.

He locked eyes with Stiles.

‘Come on’, Stiles smiled. ‘This is your achievement, get out there and feast in the glory’.

It was such a ridiculous thing to say, Derek couldn’t help but laugh. But he also got off the couch, and allowed Lucy to guide him by hand to the garden, where everyone was already gathered around. The deputies and their families, the Sheriff and Stiles’ friends, Erica and Boyd, Laura, Matt and their kids, the Mayor and a couple of people from the city council, a few firefighters and paramedics.

Derek took a deep breath before making his way next to Laura, smiling politely and accepting the glass of champagne Erica gave him.

‘I’m not so good with words, so bear with me’, is what he started with, earning a few chuckles and a couple of snorts.

‘This was not supposed to be a big deal’, Derek shrugged. ‘This was supposed to be just another job for our firm, something new, that we haven’t done before, just another project to add to our portfolio, in hopes of getting new clients.’

Laura punched his shoulder, hard. It was exactly what Derek expected. The next words were said while smiling at his sister.

‘This is so much more than that.’

He grabbed Laura’s hand, a silent plea for forgiveness, and turned back to look at the crowd.

‘This project has been very important to us, because it was our…’, he took a deep breath. ‘Even when we weren’t here, Beacon Hills has always been our home. And when we needed it the most, the people of this town have helped us and had our backs. When we came back, you welcomed us with open arms and we…’, he took another deep breath before smiling. ‘We owed a great deal to the people of this town and I think we’ve repaid that debt.’

Laura squeezed his fingers.

‘It was our pleasure to give back to Beacon Hill’s law enforcement, to the people who risk their lives for us every day, who keep our town safe and who keep _us_ safe. I hope we did well and I hope this building will help you with the tough job you have to do.’

He shook his head and smiled, again. ‘That being said... Deputies, I suggest you enjoy yourselves today, cause I don’t think you’ll be here off duty ever again. Visitors, take a good look around because if you’re ever coming back, you’ll probably be behind bars.’

That got a loud laugh.

‘And Sheriff’, Derek grinned, ‘keep away from the greasy foods!’

Everybody laughed at the Sheriff’s loud groan, and it was quickly followed with a loud round of applause and cheers. Derek shared a long hug with Laura, sighing deeply into her shoulder, feeling exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.

≈≈≈

Stiles was a constant by his side for the rest of the party. Even if he didn’t say much, even if he just sat by Derek’s side as he talked with various people, Stiles was there and it made Derek breathe just a bit easier.

When the night ended, he left with big hugs from the Stilinski men and their girl, with exhaustion running deep through his veins and a smile on his face.

≈≈≈

He didn’t get to see much of Stiles and Lucy anymore, and Derek would be lying if he said he wasn’t pretty much devastated. But he couldn’t bring himself to pick up the phone and call Stiles. So he, as always, threw himself head first into his work.

≈≈≈

_It’s ridiculous to say this, but I really miss you._

Derek stared at his phone for a long time. Stiles had sent him the text as he was in the middle of a meeting with a potential client and now, Derek has been on the balcony of his office for half an hour, staring at the text.

And hyperventilating. Derek was pretty sure he was hyperventilating.

With shaking hands, he managed to send a message back.

_Me too. God, me too._

Derek spent the rest of the day in a haze. Laura kept throwing him worried looks. Erica kept throwing him knowing smirks.

He had no idea what Stiles meant, why he said what he said, why he didn’t respond to Derek’s text, if it meant more than just the meaning of the words.

Derek didn’t text Stiles again though, he didn’t ask for explanations. He decided on waiting, he was willing to wait however long Stiles needed for them to (hopefully) continue the conversation.

He didn’t have to wait very long, because Stiles was waiting for him outside of the office when Derek was finally sent home by an annoyed Laura.

Stiles looked… anxious. He was leaning against the side of his work car, eyes cast down. He kept alternating between biting on his lower lip and biting on his nails, pulling at his already distressed tie every now and then, and he’d literally shake himself and look towards the office building every other minute.

When he saw Derek, Stiles gasped, taking a deep breath. His hands fell to his side and he straightened his posture.

Derek saw him mouthing ‘oh my god’, and that was his resolution, that was what eliminated any hesitance Derek might have had.

He also took a deep breath and confidently made his way towards Stiles. The other man started talking as Derek was half way through.

‘I know I should have called or texted back’, Stiles started in a rush, ‘but I thought maybe we could get dinner? Or catch a movie or just go on a walk, anything, really. If you want, I mean I don’t want to presume but-‘

Derek cut him off in the most effective way he could think of, by sealing Stiles's lips with his.

He has never been this impulsive in his life, but this was the first time he saw Stiles in three weeks and he looked really good in his work suit, with his tie half undone and his hair a mess, and he looked _really_ good blushing like he was and Derek missed him and he thought this was what Stiles wanted as well.

By the way he completely melted against Derek’s hold and wrapped his arms tightly around Derek’s waist, judging by the way he kissed him back frantically, yeah, Derek thought, this is exactly what Stiles wanted.

When they pulled apart, arms still wrapped around one other but both of them breathing quite heavily, Derek took great pleasure in the way Stiles was blinking slowly at him, eyes dazed over and lips shiny.

‘Where’s Lucy?’, Derek asked. ‘I’d love to go to dinner but I miss her something horrible. Could we pick her up? I … I promise I’ll woo you on the next date.’

Stiles laughed at that, hugging Derek properly, pushing their cheeks together.

‘There’s no better way to woo me’, Stiles said, ‘then loving my kid.’

‘I’ve already done that, I’m already doing that’, Derek couldn’t help but tease.

‘Yeah’, Stiles giggled. ‘Yeah you have.’

They sat like that for a while longer, Derek willing his heart to calm the hell down, breathing in Stiles, taking comfort in the way Stiles’s hands were resting on his back, under Derek’s suit jacket, fingers running patterns that calmed Derek terribly fast.

‘Get out of here!’, they were both startled when Erica’s yell resonated around the parking lot. ‘I’m happy and all, but you idiots are blocking the driveway!’

Derek sighed. Stiles shook his head.

He also grabbed a hold of Derek’s hand and gave him a quick kiss before pushing him into the backseat of his car. It made Derek grin wildly, because Stiles remembered when they first met, and he remembered that Derek didn’t like riding in the front when he wasn’t driving.

And just like that first day, Lucy sat in the back next to him, but she wasn’t crying this time. Instead, she was grinning widely, excited that Derek was joining them for dinner.

And when the two men intertwined their fingers half way through it, Lucy just grinned widely and informed Derek that he wasn’t allowed to let this much time pass before seeing them again.

Derek wasn’t going to disappoint her, so he pinky swore it with her, and he pinky swore it with Stiles, pairing that with a quick kiss and a giddy giggle.


	22. SuperDifferent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [the super!sterek fic we've all been dying to write]
> 
> When Kara takes him to her favorite bakery in National City‚ Clark guets a blast from the past. Thankfully‚ Stiles doesn't seem to recognize him as Derek Hale‚ but what will happen when Stiles switches jobs and starts working closely with Kara? Clark expects chaos. He gets something different.
> 
> Set a few months after Supergirl 2x2 and a couple of years after Teen Wolf season 6.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> google tells me "Wilk" means "wolf" in Polish

 

Clark enjoyed being in National City‚ now more than ever. Lois breaking up with him didn’t really come as a surprise‚ but it still hurt.

He ran‚ he does realize that. He took as much time off work as he could (which was quite a lot‚ considering he didn’t take more than five days off since he started working for the Daily Planet) and he came to National City.

Kara was as supportive as he knew she’d be. Not only did Supergirl call Superman every time she had work to do‚ but Kara also spent every free moment she had with Clark.

They had breakfast and lunch together‚ for dinner they’d either meet up with their friends or curl together on the couch in front of the tv.

When Kara was working‚ Clark used that time to catch up on his tv shows and read all the fiction books he hadn’t found the time for before.

He was still sad that his story with Lois came to an end. He was a bit lonely and constantly sad‚ but he was surrounded by people that cared for him and he managed to take his mind of it for a good part of the day‚ between loosing himself in the lives of fictional characters and occupying himself with helping Supergirl catch bad guys.

⃝

'So uh'‚ Clark said as they stepped into the weirdly decorated bakery. 'What is this place?'

'Oh this is only _the best place on Earth_ '‚ Kara said excitedly‚ before ordering them a very sugary breakfast and strong coffee.

Clark looked around‚ highly dubious that this was the best place on Earth. The bakery wasn’t very large‚ just big enough to hold 15-20 patrons. The walls were painted an light off-blue gray color‚ but that didn’t count for much‚ considering the hardwood floors were painted red‚ the white chairs were cushioned with orange and there were frames everywhere.

Colorful frames filled with pictures and comic book covers and fanart paintings and drawings. Clark saw himself a couple of times‚ well he saw a picture James took of Superman and a couple of cute drawings of Superman saving children and… puppies.

It was a mess of a place‚ really‚ an abundance of colors and textures and the counter was made out of a mixture of red and orange with details of bright turquoise.

The bakery was called _Wilk_ and Clark had to admit‚ it smelled delicious. The cakes‚ cookies and pastries in the displays looked amazing and the scent of coffee combined with the one of sugar made Clark's stomach growl.

They sat down at a small table near a window and it didn’t take long for someone to bring their order.

Someone who made Clark freeze entirely. Someone who made Kara grin widely.

'Stiles!'‚ she screeched. 'I haven’t seen you in ages!’

Stiles sneaked a glance and an easy smile towards Clark‚ but there was no recognition in his eyes.

He didn’t know if he was relieved or upset.

Relieved, because Stiles not recognizing him as Derek Hale made things easier. Upset‚ because after everything they’ve been through in the years they’ve spent together, all it took for Clark was a shave and a pair of glasses to make Stiles not recognize him.

'Well‚ sweetheart'‚ Stiles smiled at Kara, boldly sitting down on the chair next to her, ‘it’s not my fault you haven’t come in for ages. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re not in withdrawal.’

‘It hasn’t been that long’, Kara rolled her eyes, noticing Clark while doing so. ‘Stiles, this is Clark, my cousin.’

‘Nice to meet you, dude’, Stiles smiled easily.

It kind of took Clark’s breath away, because he was so… grown up. He hasn’t seen Stiles in years‚ granted‚ and it wasn’t like he changed a lot. But he had grown up, he was a man now. Still wearing a plaid shirt‚ but it was mostly buttoned up. His hair was still messily dishelved‚ but it seemed like it was purposefully done so. He had stubble on his chin‚ his smirk was still infectious and his eyes had a spark that Clark doesn’t remember seeing often.

‘So how have you been?’, Kara asked.

‘Good’, Stiles nodded. ‘You know me, work work work. I’m also uh, well. I applied for a different job.’

‘Oh’, Kara seemed sad. ‘Well I’m gonna miss you being here, but it's‚ I mean‚ what job is it?'

‘Junior reporter at CatCo.’

Kara shared a look with Clark‚ and Stiles looked at him as well.

‘You must get this a lot, right?’, he high pitched his voice next. 'Oh Mister Kent I'm your biggest fan, I want to be just like you when I grow up!'

Clark pulled a face. ‘It’s not like-’

‘It’s exactly like that’‚ Kara interrupted‚ making Clark glare‚ mildly‚ at her.

‘But anyway’, Kara turned back to Stiles. ‘I hope you get the job’, she smiled easily.

'Thanks‚ Kara.'

Stiles winked at her‚ smiled easily at Clark and took his leave.

Kara started eating her chocolate pastries but she stopped when she realized Clark wasn't doing the same.

'Why aren’t you eating?'

Clark finally took his eyes away from Stiles. 'You remember how I told you about those years I spent in California?'

She nodded, eyes a bit wide. 'The years after you got bit by a werewolf and helped a bunch of teenagers in California not die?’

‘Yup’, Clark nodded. ‘That. Stiles is… was one of those teenagers.’

Kara’s jaw dropped. ‘Stiles is a werewolf?’, she whispered.

Clark shook his head. ‘No, he’s still human, but…’

‘But he knows you’, Kara finally understood. ‘Even if it looked like he didn’t recognize you.’

Clark hummed. ‘That’s good, because knowing Stiles‚ he would’ve figured out I’m Superman in an hour, tops.’

Kara gulped. ‘I guess we won’t be coming here for breakfast anymore?’

He shrugged. ‘I’m more concerned about the fact that you might end up working with him.'

Kara gulped again. 'We'll cross that bridge if we’ll get to it.’

Somehow, Clark had a feeling they _were_ going to get to that bridge. Looking at Stiles, the way he kept shooting glances towards their table, Clark was almost sure they’d get to that bridge.

⃝

In a perfect example of absolutely no self-preservation‚ Clark went back to _Wilk_ the next morning‚ alone.

Stiles was there‚ and he smiled easily at Clark‚ asking about Kara and giving him an extra muffin for free.

He made no move… towards Derek. No obscure reference to werewolves‚ to their time spent together in Beacon Hills.

It was for the best‚ Clark knew this. If Stiles figured it out‚ he'd annoy Clark until he tell him the truth. All of it. And that wouldn’t be good.

⃝

Two evenings later‚ Clark and Kara were curled up on her couch, already in their pajamas‚ watching Game of Thrones.

As the episode ended‚ Kara leveled him with a look.

'Stiles's interview is tomorrow.'

He just blinked at her.

'His CV is impressive‚ apparently.', Kara went on. 'Miss Grant picked him out personally. And she'll be there for the interview and she wants me‚ well… She wants him to work with me‚ Stiles will be _my_ junior reporter. You know, if he gets the job.’

Clark sighed.

‘It’s before lunch‚ the interview'‚ she went on. 'Do you wanna pick me up for lunch a bit early and accidentally listen in?'

'That would be nice'‚ Clark sighed.

He didn’t sleep a lot‚ that night.

⃝

Stiles looked like… Winn.

Dark blue slacks and light blue plaid shirt‚ brown shoes and a matching leather satchel. He looked good and the easy smile he wore made the ensemble even better.

He froze when he was directed to the office and saw not only Kara there‚ but miss Grant as well.

'Just because I know you doesn’t mean you'll get this job'‚ Kara said sternly.

'Oh‚ you know each other?'‚ Cat asked sweetly.

'Yes‚ Stiles works at my favorite bakery'.

Stiles pulled a face. 'About that. I don’t really work there. I kind of… own it.'

Kara's jaw dropped.

'You own a bakery and now you want to be a reporter?'‚ Cat asked somewhat coldly.

Stiles smiled at her. 'As you saw in my CV‚ I had a double major in college: economy and journalism. I opened my bakery and the business has got to a point where I am not needed anymore. I have found some great people to work there‚ the baker makes the sweets as well as I do‚ the manager can handle everything‚ the business runs itself.'

'So you're bored and decided to try your hand at journalism?'‚ Cat asked condescendingly.

Stiles smirked. 'I decided to try my hand at journalism in the moment I picked it as my second major. Now‚ I decided to put my training to good use.'

'But why?'‚ Kara asked softly. 'Why do you _want_ to be a reporter?'

Stiles smiled at her for a couple of seconds before answering in a … fairly dreamy voice.

'The world isn’t the world we grew up in anymore‚ Kara. This world‚ our world‚ it's… impossible now. I grew up reading about … fairytales and monsters and magic and ghosts'‚ he laughed a bit. 'Those things don’t seem so impossible now‚ do they?'

Clark saw Kara shake her head and he saw miss Grant watching Stiles closely.

'I want to be a part of that'‚ Stiles said strongly. 'I want to be part of the impossible‚ even if it's just a small‚ tiny‚ insignificant part.'

'Oh so reporters are insignificant now?'‚ Cat glared.

Stiles snorted. 'That's not what I meant‚ miss Grant. In the grand scheme of things‚ we're all insignificant next to Supergirl and Superman.'‚ he winked at Kara. 'But I think that every person has the potential of becoming significant‚ even if it's just for a little while. Even if it's just for the duration of an article. Or a snapshot or… an interview with Supergirl.'‚ he smiled at Cat.

'I want to be a reporter because I want my significant moment to take place on paper.'

Cat hummed. 'I don’t agree with you. I haven’t gotten where I am today by thinking I will only get 15 minutes of fame.'

'Well‚ miss Grant'‚ Stiles suddenly seemed flirty‚ 'it would be my genuine pleasure to be proved wrong by you.'

'Cheeky'‚ Cat smirked before turning to Kara. 'What do you think?'

'I don’t think he's telling the truth'‚ Kara frowned at Stiles. 'Not all of it.'

Stiles laughed‚ seemingly delighted.

'Fine'‚ he said. 'All cards on the table. I uh… I opened a bakery because when my mother died‚ she left behind three notebooks filled with traditional Polish sweets‚ upgraded to the American ways. I opened it _here_ instead of back home‚ because there were too many bad memories there and I needed to get away from there to be happy.'

'Mr. Stilinski’, Cat raised an eyebrow, ‘nobody asked for your sob story.’

‘The reason I want to be a part of everything impossible happening in the world’, Stiles went on like she didn’t speak, ‘is because I have always been around it, I was always surrounded by impossible things. Now, I just want to make it official.'

'That sounds like you’re a nut case’, Cat deadpanned.

Stiles grinned innocently at her. 'I'm not. I just easily see things even if they are concealed, I am a very logical person who can mentally make connections and who likes to know a little bit about everything. I would make a decent enough detective‚ actually. Also‚ and this is very important, I have no superpowers. I can’t get my hands dirty and help the superheroes of the world with… brute strength. But I wish to help them with this'‚ he pointed at his temple‚ 'and this'‚ he pointed to his heart. 'And a publication like yours is the best environment to do that in.'

'And why did you choose _this_ magazine?'‚ Cat raised an eyebrow.

'Because you are the best‚ miss Grant'‚ Stiles didn’t miss a beat in answering. 'And that is what I'm aiming for.'

Kara was looking a bit wide eyed, eyes skipping from Stiles to Cat, who were mildly glaring at each other.

‘I’m disappointed, Mr. Stilinski’, Cat said next. ‘You own a bakery and you didn’t bring us a bribe.’

Stiles grinned at that, reaching into his satchel and taking out two _Wilk_ boxes, handing them to the women.

‘Cronuts’, Stiles said. ‘Infused with the Polish equivalent of eggnog. We only start selling it next week.’

‘Yeeeeees’, Kara reached for the box, excitedly.

Cat reached for it as well‚ a bit more composed.

'If we decide to offer you the job‚ Mr. Stilinski, you’ll get the call in a couple of days.’

Taking it as the dismissal it was, Stiles got up and gathered his things. He gave Kara a quick kiss on the cheek and he kissed the back of Cat's hand.

'Even if I don’t get that call’, he smiled at her, ‘it’s been a pleasure meeting you, miss Grant.’

‘One last question, Stiles’, Kara grinned evilly at him. ‘Supergirl or Superman?’

He blinked twice. 'Depends on the question you’re asking. If it’s who I’d rather save the world with, then it’s Supergirl, cause she’s the underdog and I’ll always be on the underdog’s side. If you're asking who I'd rather hook up with…'‚ Stiles shrugged‚ grinning afterward. 'Then it's Superman. I mean‚ Supergirl is hot as hell‚ but have you seen Superman’s ass? It’s _sinful_.’

Clark may have chocked on air. Thankfully, only Kara heard him.

When Stiles left the office, he didn’t notice Clark lurking in the hallway. Not until he was in the elevator.

Stiles was on the phone‚ but his eyes locked with Clark's.

'Scotty boy'‚ Stiles said around a smirk. 'You'll never believe who I just met.'

As the doors to the elevator closed, Stiles winked at Clark, throwing him back to a moment in the burned Hale house, when Scott wanted a tattoo and Stiles winked at Derek, just as he winked at Clark now.

Clark swallowed thickly, turning back around to the office.

‘I want to hire him’, Cat was telling Kara. ‘Because I think you'll learn from him as much as he'll learn from you.'

Kara was looking at Clark as she answered. 'I think so as well‚ miss Grant. And I think he’ll be a good addition to the company.’

Clark was in trouble.

⃝

He thought he wasn’t going to see a lot of Stiles. He was wrong.

Stiles got a desk just outside of Kara’s office, so every time Clark went to pick her up for lunch or dinner, Stiles was there. He was always polite to Clark‚ if not a bit awkward and flirty.

Some things never changed.

And Clark was super attentive to everything Stiles said or did, just to keep an eye out for his secret. Secrets.

Stiles never really gave the impression that he knew anything. For a couple of weeks, at least.

⃝

About a month after getting the job, Stiles came over with Kara after work one Friday evening.

‘I’m sorry, Clark’, Kara all but whined, ‘we just got a major story that we need to research and fact check and write and it needs to be done by Sunday.'

Clark looked to Stiles, who had his hands full. He had a big bag branded with _Wilk_ , a laptop bag, his satchel and a backpack.

‘I brought pajamas’, he grinned.

‘Stiles!’, Kara seemed appalled. ‘We don’t have time for sleep!'

'I know that! But I'm not gonna spend the night in stiff pants. It's uncomfortable.'

He turned to Clark next. ‘Sorry, dude. But we’ll keep quiet.’

‘Oh, I’m going out’, he said mildly.

‘With James?’, Kara smiled.

‘And Winn’, he nodded, making her tilt her head.

‘Who’s Winn?’, Stiles asked.

‘My best friend’, Kara answered. ‘He used to work at CatCo‚ but he moved to another job a couple of months ago.' She turned to Clark‚ smirking. ‘Boys night out?'

He rolled his eyes. ‘I promise not to get them too drunk.’

‘Oh, please do’, Kara snorted. ‘Winn gets extra cuddly.’

Clark pulled a face before sobering up. ‘Well good luck with your article. What’s it about?’

'Oh‚ man'‚ Stiles said a bit breathlessly. 'This must be so weird for you. I mean, once this article gets published‚ the Daily Planet is going to get angry that we got the story before they did. And you work for the Daily Planet!’

Clark opened his mouth, but Kara was faster.

‘Family’s more important that our job.’

He smiled at her, how could he not? But then his eyes moved to Stiles, who was already looking at Clark.

He knew the look well, it was a look that Stiles reserved for Scott and his father in the past.

'That I get'‚ Stiles said softly.

Clark felt something snapping‚ between them, the casual ignoring of their past together.

He left and drank an alarming amount with his friends. It wasn’t like he could get drunk anyway.

⃝

Clark got back home at about 3 am. He found Kara and Stiles in pajamas‚ sitting on the floor of the living room. They both had a laptop in front of them and they were surrounded by three different tablets, heaps and heaps of printed papers, empty _Wilk_ boxes and beer pints filled with coffee.

They both turned to look at him with what Clark called crazy-eyes. He was used to seeing them on Kara and Stiles both‚ whenever they were in the middle of hunting down a bad guy.

'Is there anything I can do to help?'‚ he asked gently.

'Not yet'‚ Stiles said. 'But maybe you could proof read it in the morning? I don’t think either of us will be seeing straight by then.'

'Please?'‚ Kara asked sweetly‚ making Clark bend down and kiss her forehead.

'Plus'‚ Stiles said distractedly‚ 'I think you'll understand this subject pretty well.'

Kara froze at that. 'What are you talking about? Why would Clark know anything about identity theft?'

It was Clark's turn to freeze.

Stiles raised a condescending eyebrow. 'Cause he wrote about it a couple of years ago? What else would I be talking about?'

Kara and Clark both relaxed at that.

'Right‚ of course.'‚ she laughed awkwardly.

'It's not like Derek ever stole someone’s identity, right?’

Stiles said this while staring at Clark‚ strongly and challenging. He willed himself not to show anything in his expression.

'My name is Clark'‚ he said with as much easiness as he could muster. 'Never met a Derek.'

Stiles laughed at that‚ quite incredulously. 'Right‚ sorry. I’ve been working all night‚ my brain is mushy.'

Clark smiled in order to get over the moment. He then took his leave‚ making sure Kara was going to wake him up when it was time for him to proof read their article.

He shut the door to the guest room and leaned back against it.

Stiles _knew_. But there was no way Clark was going to admit to anything.

⃝

In the morning‚ Kara and Stiles both looked half dead. But the article was brilliant‚ a piece unmasking a very well known politician for having another life before he joined the party. It was sure to cause uproar and Cat was going to love it.

'Sorry about last night'‚ Stiles told him before leaving. 'It was stupid of me.'

'It's alright'‚ Clark said awkwardly. 'No harm done.'

After Stiles left, Kara leveled Clark with an anxious look.

‘He knows’, she said.

Clark nodded.

‘Do you think he knows about Superman too?’

He shook his head.

‘Well, that’s good, at least.’

Clark smiled. ‘You don’t know Stiles.’

‘I’ll keep an eye on him’, Kara said strongly.

Clark knew she will, but he also knew it will be pretty much pointless.

⃝

He stopped visiting Kara at work so much, keeping his distance from Stiles.

But he didn’t stop going to _Wilk_. It was safe because Stiles was never there anymore and it really was one of the best places he's ever been to. In the past month he has tried every type of pastry or candy they made and he chose a few favorites which he ate almost every day.

The fudge bars were by far his favorites‚ closely followed by the poppy seeds roll and the coffee cupcakes.

The employees treated him as a regular‚ and they all knew his order. So it was weird when a familiar voice asked 'What'll be?'

'Hi Stiles'‚ Clark smiled politely. 'I thought you didn’t have time for this anymore.’

‘Kara gave me the day off’, he shrugged. ‘Something about having to work with miss Grant. So what can I get you?'

Clark rattled out his order and sat down at his usual table. It didn’t take long for Stiles to join him and he sat down without asking for permission.

'Did you quit your job?'‚ Stiles asked‚ making Clark freeze with his coffee cup halfway up to his mouth.

‘I mean, you’ve been in National City for a while'‚ Stiles went on. 'And you haven’t written an article in even longer.'

Clark composed himself. 'No‚ I didn’t quit my job. I just took some much needed time off.’

Stiles hummed at that. ‘Running from something?’

Clark froze at that, his heart beating a bit rapidly in his chest. He knew that everyone in Beacon Hills thought he ran away when he left‚ but this was the first time anybody actually said it out loud. And coming from Stiles' mouth‚ it hurt Clark quite a bit.

Still, he wasn’t in the trade of backing out of challenges anymore.

‘Yes, actually'‚ Clark looked up and saw Stiles’ surprised expression. ‘I just came out of a long term relationship and I am running away from seeing her every day at work. At least until I have the strength to see her again, you know?’

Stiles nodded slowly. ‘You broke up with Lois Lane.’

‘She broke up with me’, Clark chuckled, self deprecatingly.

‘Hey, at least she didn’t turn up to be evil.'

Oh‚ some things really do never change. Derek would have glared at Stiles and not so gently bashed his head against the table. Clark just snorted.

It made Stiles angry. He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, lowering his voice.

‘You _know_ I’m not stupid’, he said strongly. 'Why do you insist on keeping up this charade?'

Clark kept his stance. 'I don’t know what you're talking about.'

Stiles sighed‚ his tone loosing the anger it previously had.

'You think I'll be mad. That we were mad when you left.'‚ He shook his head. 'I'm just curious‚ man. We missed you.'

It was getting harder for Clark to keep his composure‚ because even if he hasn’t seen Stiles in years, even if he didn’t know the man he grew up to become, Clark still knew the character traits that made Stiles fundamentally… Stiles. So he knew that he was speaking the truth.

Still, he shook his head. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

Stiles sighed, deeply. ‘Fine.’, he sounded angry again. ‘Fine. Just… You can stop avoiding me‚ alright? I'll behave.’

He got up and left Clark alone with his thoughts.

He regretted, leaving Beacon Hills when he did. He regretted leaving Scott alone with a pack on his hands and he regretted not keeping in touch with them all. But he knew he made the right call.

Leaving Beacon Hills drove him to Metropolis and to the later birth of Superman. He wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Scott and Stiles‚ he learned a lot from Scott's desire to save everyone and from Stiles' stubbornness to help.

But that didn’t mean Stiles had to be back into his life now that they’ve met again. It was better for him to be in the dark.

Clark knew this and he believed it strongly. He just didn’t expect it to hurt this much.

⃝

Kara came back from work the next day with a big bag from _Wilk_.

'Stiles said he wanted to apologize?'‚ she worded it as a question.

'He cornered me yesterday'‚ Clark explained. 'About Derek. I didn’t admit to anything but… he knows.'

Kara sighed. 'I think he’s starting to suspect I'm Supergirl. He keeps dropping these hints.'

Clark couldn’t help but laugh. 'I knew he'd figure it out.'

'I like him'‚ Kara said next‚ incredibly soft. 'He’s such a smart guy and he seems so kind. I mean‚ he's an asshole but yesterday I saw him babysit one of our coworker's kid, a 6 year old girl, and he was amazing with her.’

‘He’s an asshole, yeah’, Clark breathed out. ‘And you’re right, he is kind. But he can also be… ruthless. When it comes to the people he cares for being hurt.'

'Is that a bad thing?'‚ Kara frowned.

Clark shook his head. 'It's the thing I liked about him the best.'

Kara was silent for a while‚ clearly thinking it over.

'You want to tell him’, Clark realized. ‘You want to tell him you’re Supergirl.’

‘He’ll keep my secret.’, she shrugged. ‘And it will be easier at work, than having to hide from him every time I have to fly off.'

She took a deep breath. 'But if I tell him, Stiles is smart enough to figure out you’re Superman. And you know him, so… I know it’s not my decision. I’ll do whatever you say.’

‘Not yet’, Clark pleaded. ‘I know it's going to get to a point where you _have_ to tell him, it always does. But just… not yet?’

Kara nodded at that, easily wrapping her arms around his waist. Clark hugged her back without hesitation.

⃝

Clark fully intended to properly think about it. To think about what it meant telling Stiles everything. Because if he was going to do this, he was going to come clean about everything. About Superman, Clark Kent, Derek Hale, all of it.

In the end, he didn’t get to think about it, because later that night, Kara barged into his bedroom, saying that there was an alien attacking downtown, and that it was on _Wilk_ ’s street.

‘Stiles can’t be there, right?’, she was clearly anxious. ‘It’s the middle of the night.’

‘I don’t know’, Clark admitted, dread pooling in his stomach.

As they got to _Wilk_ , Clark wasn’t even that surprised to see Stiles going one on one with the alien.

It had claws and antlers. Stiles had a baseball bat.

'For real?'‚ Kara breathed out incuriously.

Clark just urged her forward‚ the both of them landing in front of Stiles‚ blocking him from the alien.

'Oh good'‚ he breathed out. 'There's a weak spot in the middle of his chest. I think your laser eyes should do.'

Clark rolled his eyes. Just to spite Stiles‚ he didn’t use his laser vision. Instead‚ he and Kara fought the alien for a brief minute‚ rendering him unconscious just in time for the DEO to sweep him out.

He dealt with that and when he got back to Stiles' side‚ Kara was just arguing that he needs a doctor.

‘It’s just a claw scratch'‚ Stiles snorted‚ gently poking on the deep looking wound on his arm. ‘Lord knows I got that before'‚ he threw a look to Clark.

But Kara didn’t back down‚ backed up by J'onn who needed Stiles to sign nondisclosure agreements.

Clark kept his distance for as long as he could‚ but he did eventually make his way to the infirmary. Stiles’ left arm was bandaged and he was absently signing papers with his right one.

Kara was looking worriedly at him, while J’onn just looked disturbed.

‘Is he free to go?’, Clark asked.

J’onn nodded. ‘He signed the nondisclosure agreements. Without actually reading them.’

Clark smiled at that. ‘I’m pretty sure he knows them by heart.’

Stiles’ eyes snapped to his, lingering for a while before moving to Kara.

‘Does this mean you’ll stop denying it?’, he seemed somewhat desperate. ‘I mean, for god’s sake, that’s your sister!’, he pointed to Alex, ‘and your best friend’, he pointed to Winn. ‘And I figured it out _weeks_ ago, this is surprisingly insulting, really.’

Kara looked to Clark, asking an unspoken question. He sighed, before turning to look at Stiles.

‘What is surprising’, he said slowly, ‘is that you still fight with a freaking baseball bat.’

Stiles’ jaw dropped, but only for a split second, before he was back to his cocky asshole self.

'Well I don’t have my trusty werewolf sidekick to save me all the time now, do I?'

Clark snorted. 'Scott was never the sidekick.'

'Of course not'‚ Stiles seemed affronted. ‘I was talking about you.’

Clark just rolled his eyes.

'I always liked how you looked without the stubble'‚ Stiles said next. It was the first time he saw him without the glasses, Clark realized.

He smirked. ‘You always liked how I looked, period.’

Stiles didn’t even blush at that, he just kept on grinning, satisfied.

‘It appears I have missed something’, J’onn said slowly.

Clark looked at him. ‘I got bit by a werewolf three months into my stay on Earth.'

J'onn frowned. 'That’s not possible.'

Clark chuckled‚ shaking his head. But then he looked straight at J'onn‚ as his eyes flashed. He left the shift take over, and even though it’s been years since he shifted, it was still easy for him.

He felt his fangs grow, his nails and hair. His neck bones snapped‚ but it wasn’t painful.

When it was done‚ J'onn was staring at him, Kara was biting on her lower lip to keep from laughing and Stiles was…

Grinning wildly.

‘God I missed it’, he breathed out.

If he were human‚ Clark would have blushed. But instead‚ he shifted back‚ turning to J'onn.

'I’ll explain everything tomorrow‚ but tonight‚ Stiles and I have some catching up to do.'

'Can Winn come?'‚ Kara was bouncing on the soles of her feet. 'You know he'll just bombard you with questions otherwise.’

Clark smiled at her. ‘You get him, I’ll get Stiles.’

‘What do you mean get? I’m right here.’

Kara giggled as Clark winked at her. Then, in a flash‚ he had Stiles in his arms and he was flying them out of the DEO headquarters.

The high pitched scream Stiles let out was the best thing Clark has heard in years. And the way he was clutching to Clark's neck wasn’t so bad either.

⃝

They went back to Kara's apartment‚ indulging in pizzas and beer as Derek talked.

He told them everything. He didn’t sugar coat it, he withheld nothing.

Winn took everything with wide, excited eyes, while Stiles barely looked to Clark, opting to stare at his hands.

‘What I don’t understand’, he said once Clark finished his story, ‘is the Hales. They were real, dad _knew_ them.’

Clark nodded. ‘The Hales took me in when I was bit. They were my family, just… an adopted one.’

Finally, Stiles looked to him.

‘How’s Cora?'‚ he asked gently.

'Still in South America’, Clark responded in kind. ‘She got married last year.’

‘It was beautiful’, Kara added. ‘Her husband makes her incredibly happy.’

‘How’s Scott?’, Clark countered.

Stiles grinned. ‘Doctor McCall is running the vet clinic since Deaton retired.’

‘That’s amazing’, Clark smiled wildly. ‘And Lydia?’

‘Wrecking havoc through court houses across Central City.’

Clark laughed, and Stiles kept staring at him.

‘Dude’, he said breathlessly. ‘And we thought Derek’s life was hard.’

He shrugged at that, before sobering up. ‘You have to understand, that I did… I regret leaving.’

‘I’ll admit, we were pissed off when you did’, Stiles nodded. ‘But you left to become _Superman_. That’s…’

‘Cool?’, Winn tried when Stiles didn’t finish his thought.

Stiles snorted. ‘To say the least.’

‘You can’t tell them'‚ Clark said seriously. 'Too many people know already and-'

'I won’t'‚ Stiles said strongly. 'You know I won’t. Your secrets are safe with me’, he spared a look at Kara, ‘but I… hell, man, I thought I was going crazy all over again.'

Clark flinched at that, images of the nogitsune flashing before his eyes.

'I get it‚ though'‚ Stiles said next. 'I mean, I understand everything you did and I’ll give you that, you made the right choices. It's just that…'‚ he sighed, looking away.

‘Senior year was shit’, Stiles finally said. ‘And I found myself praying for you to come back more often than I prayed to survive it.’

‘I’m sorry’, Clark said. It wasn’t nearly enough, but he couldn’t do much else.

Stiles shook his head before looking to Clark again and smiling softly.

‘It’s so good to see you. And it’s so good to see you like this… I barely recognize you anymore. Cause you're happy and in a good place.’

There was a pause‚ before Stiles tilted his head and smirked.

‘And that good place is a pair of very tight tights and a pretty red cape.'

Clark rolled his eyes‚ as Kara snickered and Winn said a disturbingly understanding ‘Oh’.

⃝

Life was good‚ now that Clark has one less stressful thing to worry about‚ so of course it only lasted for about 10 hours.

'You look like your puppy just died'‚ Stiles pointed out as Clark made his way into Kara’s office.

He didn’t answer, just tilted his head to have Stiles follow him.

‘I have a problem’, he said when they were both in Kara’s office, having clearly interrupted a pretty serious discussion with James. Clark felt bad about it, but it was a time sensitive problem.

‘My boss wants me to interview Supergirl. And if I don’t deliver it tomorrow, I’m fired.'

His statement was met with silence.

James broke it, eventually. ‘Miss Grant has been bugging me to get Kara an interview with Superman for weeks now.’

Clark sighed, deeply. ‘They’re in direct competition, always trying to be better than the other one.’

‘But you guys are better than that’, Stiles’ eyes were sparking as they usually did before he had a terrible idea.

‘What if you do the same thing, at the same time?’

Everyone was confused by this.

‘Hear me out’, Stiles said, suddenly excited. ‘Kara does the interview with Superman, and Clark does the interview with Supergirl. But it’s the same interview. Same questions in the same order‚ published at the same time, so your bosses can’t get angry at you for that. And if you both mention the other interview, not only does is show perfect solidarity between two members of our trade, but it also assures that both of the publications will have the same success. Because once you read one, you’re gonna want to read the other one.’

Clark stared at Stiles, because it was brilliant. Risky and insane, but brilliant. Looking to Kara, he could see his cousin had the same opinion.

‘Think Mr. White is going to go for it?’, Kara asked slowly.

Clark nodded. ‘If miss Grant goes for it.’

‘I’ll go talk to her.’, Kara said quickly.

‘I’ll call Mr. White’, Clark was already pulling out his phone.

‘James, we’re going to need pictures’, Stiles said.

‘Stiles, you’re helping!’, Kara yelled, already half way out of the room.

‘That’s fine, I didn’t need to sleep anyway’, Stiles grumbled under his breath.

‘We’re going to need somewhere to take the pictures.’‚ James added.

‘ _Wilk_!’, Kara yelled, as she was half way to the elevator.

‘I’ll call them to close up early’, Stiles yelled back. ‘We’re going to have to clean up, though.’

‘And lights, we’ll need extra lights’, James said with a faraway look.

‘Everyone shut up!’, Stiles yelled. ‘Let’s wait until we get the go ahead from your bosses and freak out later.’

‘When the hell did you get reasonable?’, Clark found himself saying out loud.

The glare Stiles sent his way… he missed it, really.

⃝

That night was insane. The four of them huddled up into _Wilk_ , and started working by clearing the glass cases of the leftover pastries and they asked Stiles to make them strong coffee.

Winn turned up just in time to steal Kara's coffee and to mumble something about how he was there on official business‚ to make sure the aliens don’t say something they shouldn’t.

Stiles proposed they'd start with the pictures‚ because by the time they'd finish with the articles‚ they will look tired. James argued that that wasn’t a bad thing‚ and he argued that Kara and Clark both looked good even if they were half-dead.

So they started with the articles.

Kara and Clark thought of the questions, with the rest of the men saying their opinion. Stiles talked the most‚ but it wasn’t a bad thing.

He was good at this, Clark couldn’t help but notice. He was smart, of course, gentle when he needed to but harsh when it’d serve his purpose.

And he worked brilliantly with Kara. Even if it was less than 2 months since Stiles got the job, he already knew the way Kara thought, her strong and weak spots and how to work around them.

By the end, her and Clark were both pretty satisfied with their questions.

When it came time for them to answer‚ Stiles took them to the kitchen‚ separately‚ arguing that their answers shouldn’t be influenced.

It was easier than Clark thought it was going to be. Superman has never sat down to do an interview, and this wasn’t exactly a real one, considering he helped design the questions and Stiles was the one asking them. But he thought he’d have issues with answering certain questions‚ like the ones about home and the ones about Kara.

But he managed pretty well‚ and Stiles seemed to think so as well‚ because he winked at Clark and bumped their shoulders together.

They took the pictures while Stiles wrote all their answers down. It was a familiar sight to Clark, Stiles in the middle of the night, with dark bags under his eyes, his hair askew, two pencils in his mouth and one behind his ear, typing furiously away on a laptop.

James had to remind him he was supposed to look into the camera more than once.

The pictures turned out pretty nice. Supergirl and Superman each got a headshot‚ a close-up of their face with the focus on their eyes‚ just a hint of their suits at the bottom of the picture. They were both smiling slightly and Stiles called the pictures delicious.

James also decided to include a picture of the two of them together that Clark honestly thought was going to get deleted.

He and Kara were sat at a table‚ still in their suits but with _Wilk_ coffee mugs and empty plates artfully arranged around them.

Stiles had fallen asleep and he fell from his chair, yelling something about puppies and kittens when his body hit the floor. Clark and Kara laughed loudly at that, and James took a picture of it.

It was a beautiful picture, both Supergirl and Superman looking like they had no care in the world. Clark loved it and he was set to print and frame it as soon as possible.

Kara and Clark got back home with just enough time to eat breakfast and shower before Kara had to leave for work.

‘Hey, can I ask you something?’, she asked just before she walked out the door.

Clark just nodded.

‘Were you and Stiles ever…’, she wiggled her eyebrows.

‘No’, Clark wrinkled his nose. ‘He was a kid and we were busy fighting for our lives. What… Why would you even ask me that?’

‘Because I have eyes?’, she snickered. ‘It’s clear that there’s something there _now_ , I was just wondering if it was there before.’

‘You should get your eyes checked’, Clark mumbled, making Kara all but cackle on her way out.

⃝

Clark went into work with Kara the next day, because he wanted to see miss Grant’s reaction. He wasn’t expecting Stiles’.

He all but burst into Kara’s office, heart going haywire, clutching to an issue of both the magazine and the paper.

‘You put my name down’, he all but yelled.

Clark and Kara shared a confused look because of course they put his name down. Both of the articles were signed by Clark Kent _and_ Kara Danvers, with Stiles Stilinski as the junior reporter and James Olsen as the photographer.

'This is the first time my name is on an article and it’s the story of the year!’, Stiles went on. ‘My phone’s been blowing up since 5 am and dad wants autographs and Scott wants to know what your suits are made out of and Lydia wants to know if Superman’s ass is as good as it looks on tv and-‘

For old times’ sake, Clark shut Stiles up by pushing him to the closest wall.

‘You’re welcome’, Clark said pointedly.

Stiles snorted‚ but then he hugged Clark, tightly but briefly, before running to Kara and doing the same thing.

‘You two, you get lifelong free everything _Wilk_ ’.

Kara was the most excited about that.

⃝

The Superman and Supergirl articles blew up across the world‚ so much so that Mr. White called Clark back to Metropolis the next week.

He felt a billion times better than he felt when he left, and considering he hasn’t even thought about Lois in a couple of weeks, he knew it was time for him to get back to his life.

He shared a long hug with Kara and a manly one with James, he even stopped by the DEO to say goodbye to his friends there.

And after that, he asked Stiles to meet him on the rooftop of CatCo.

‘Are you actually going to say goodbye this time?’, is what Stiles started with, and really, Clark was expecting it.

‘Yes’, he smiled. ‘And no.’

Stiles just raised an eyebrow, walking until he was standing in front of Clark.

‘Yes, I am saying goodbye’, he nodded. ‘But I’m not actually saying goodbye, I’d much rather say _see you later_.’

‘You better’, Stiles went for menacing. Then he shook his head and smiled, hugging Clark, making sure not to disrupt his cape too much.

The hug lasted a bit longer than it was supposed to‚ but Clark didn’t mind. He didn’t even mind when Stiles, as he stepped out of the hug, ran his fingers over Clark's jaw.

He didn’t mind when Stiles left his hand rest on his neck, and he didn’t really mind when Stiles kissed him.

Clark was surprised‚ sure, but he found himself not minding it.

And he found himself kissing Stiles back.

Stiles pulled away with a gasp and he took a step back‚ putting distance between them.

'It’s just that I've wanted to do that for a couple of years now.'‚ Stiles said softly‚ blushing pretty hard. 'And I regret not doing it before the last time you left.'

'It's different this time.'‚ Clark found himself saying.

It made Stiles smile‚ as he slowly started walking backwards.

'It is different‚ cause I have your number now. Maybe you’ll actually pick up?'

Clark fought back a smile. 'If I'm not too busy saving the day.'

Stiles snorted at that. ‘That’s a good enough excuse.'

'I'm done with excuses.', Clark said quickly. 'Especially when it comes to you'.

That made Stiles freeze in his tracks. He muttered a silent ‘Oh my god’, ran back to Clark and kissed him again. This time, both of his hands were on Clark’s cheeks‚ keeping him in place‚ and Clark managed to think well enough to wrap his hands around Stiles’ waist.

That was as far as his brain went, though, because this kiss was strong and hurried and it left him breathless.

‘Answer your phone’, Stiles said when he pulled away. ‘And be careful.'

He didn’t say another word as he made his way off the rooftop, and Stiles didn’t look back again. Still, Clark spent the flight back to Metropolis smiling like an idiot.

⃝

When he landed, he had a text from Kara.

_What did you do to Stiles? He looks like he inhaled a fresh batch of cocaine._

⃝

When Sheriff Stilinski visited Stiles that Christmas, he was exasperated.

‘You couldn’t have settled for a werewolf, you had to find one that’s an alien too?’


	23. Accidental dick pics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [@vici](http://mysnarkyself.tumblr.com) dared me to write something inspired by [this post](http://sssssssim.tumblr.com/post/158240759941/reinventlou-someone-turn-this-into-a-fic-ill):  
>  BOSS: Know why I called you in here?  
> ME: Because I accidentally sent you a dick pic?  
> BOSS [stops pouring 2 glasses of wine]: Accidentally?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm drunk and this is kinky heh

Derek wasn’t prone to good luck. Since he was five and always tripping and falling on his face, since he was 16 and fell in love with an older woman who tried to kill his entire family, Derek’s wasn’t a lucky person.

That’s the only explanation he got for this clusterfuck that was happening.

○

Derek liked his job.

It was a small start-up company, their product wasn’t even launched yet, there were three more months till that. But he liked what he did, designing everything needed, from the packaging to the facebook teasers.

And it was a small company, just a couple of employees, so Derek’s unsocial self was okay with going to the office every day.

But Laura has been on his back for ages now, because apparently, Derek not dating in months wasn’t acceptable. His libido kind of agreed, so that’s how he ended up on one of those dating apps.

Truth be told, Laura was right, and Derek was kind of sexually frustrated. It had been months since he got any action, and it’s been particularly difficult since he got this job, because his boss was… problematic.

Stiles was young and joyful, sarcastic and funny, and also hot as hell and borderline sinful. He was friendly towards all of his employees, since there weren’t many of them and this project was “his baby”.

Derek had trouble focusing when he was in the same room with Stiles, because Derek could not look away, and he liked _everything_ he saw.

He liked the jeans Stiels wore, that made his ass stand out. He liked the tight t-shirts that wrapped around his biceps and were hidden under loose plaid shirts that brought out his eyes, he liked Stiles’s lips, and he loved the way Derek thought looked around him, and on his neck, and on his lips and-

Derek had massive problems focusing when he was in the same room with Stiles. He was frustrated, and Laura kept going on and on, and he hadn’t had sex in months, so he made a damn profile on a dating app and he started talking with this guy, that kinda looked vaguely like Stiles and liked to be called Prince.

They exchanged numbers, and texted each other late at night, things that made Derek’s toes curl and his breathing heavy. He got off every night, imagining that whatever Prince said was coming out of Stiles’s mouth.

But things escalated quickly, and Prince started texting throughout the day. Derek got used to it, he even prepared for it.

So one normal Thursday, when Prince texted him, saying that he was at home, hard and eager, when he texted a picture of just that, his dick hard and leaking onto his stomach, Derek was ready.

He had a couple of pictures he took the night before, as he was jerking off to thoughts of Stiles on his knees in the middle of his living room.

It wasn’t a particularly hard day at work, so Derek didn’t even hesitate before sending his nudes to Prince. They were good pictures, well lit and fully detailed, his dick in all its hard glory, fingers wrapped around it, fat and leaking, and in perfect focus.

It took a couple of hours for Derek to realize he fucked up.

He sent the pictures and waited for Prince’s reply, because it usually was prompt. But it never came, and that night, after he was done with work and Derek got home, he checked his phone.

And realized that his dick pics weren’t sent to Prince, but to the next phone number under it.

 _Stiles_.

Derek had sent his dick picks to Stiles and he-

He hadn’t seen Stiles that day. But Erica, which was Stiles’s secretary, for lack of a better word, he told Derek that Stiles wanted to see him the next day.

Derek freaked out. He had a panic attack, he almost died of shame, he debated just not showing up, but decided against it, because he was sure he was going to lose his job, so why not see Stiles one more time?

He also fell asleep with his hand around his dick and cum drying on his stomach, images of Stiles bending over a desk and screaming his name.

It was unavoidable, by this point.

○

Derek went though the next day as if nothing was wrong, and he ignored the dousine texts he got from Prince. At the end of the office hours, he went into Stiles’s office fully prepared to lose his job, to have to explain the mess up, to beg for Stiles to not file a lawsuit.

Derek even though he’d offer, a night of sex, after Stiles fired him. He thought that would be a nice ending to everything, he was willing to step on his ego for even a slim chance it was going to happen.

They were basically the only ones left in the office, and Stiles had an open bottle of red wine and two glasses on his desk.

‘Do you know why you’re here?’, Stiles raised an eyebrow, casually pouring wine into a glass.

‘Because I accidentally sent you dick pics’.

Derek was blushing, sure, and his heart was beating wildly, but he wasn’t too bothered. He knew he was out of a job, he got used to that. By this point, he was just curious as to what Stiles would say and do.

Stiles stopped pouring the wine in the glasses. Instead, he blinked at Derek, twice, then promptly took a large sip of wine straight from the bottle, screwing up his face afterwards.

‘Accidentally?’

‘Of course’, Derek nodded. ‘I don’t usually go about sending dick pics to my bosses.’

Stiles nodded and took another large gulp of wine.

‘So, this person you were sending the pics to’, he raised his eyebrows, ‘is it serious?’

Derek shook his head.

Stiles nodded again, and drank some wine again, and gave the bottle to Derek, who didn’t hesitate in taking it.

‘So, real talk’, Stiles gulped as Derek was still drinking, ‘you’re hot as hell and I really wished you sent that pics for real.’

Derek stopped drinking the wine, slowly putting the bottle on Stiles’s desk.

‘I have been fantasizing about you for weeks now’, he admitted, ignoring his blush and focusing on Stiles’s instead.

‘I really want to blow you, I was literally drooling over that pictures.’

Derek whined, or maybe he growled, but he also moved, fast and violently, grabbing onto Stiles’s face and kissing him desperately.

But it was alright, because Stiles whined too, as he opened his mouth and pressed his body against Derek’s.

○

Later, as Derek was leaning naked against the desk, as Stiles was between his legs, chocking on Derek’s dick with tears falling down his cheeks… Derek didn’t even remember what Prince’s name was.

But later, when he was bent over the desk, with Stiles buried deep inside him and his slim fingers around his dick, Derek thought that maybe he should thank Prince. Or Laura. Or the heavens above.

Or Stiles.

_Stiles, Stiles, Stiles, yes, oh god, yes, Stiles._

Or maybe just Stiles.

○

Derek didn’t loose his job over dick pics. Instead, he gained a boyfriend and a made blood oath that they will never, ever, say why or how they really got together.


	24. Survivor: Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously, on Survivor.  
>  _the sterek au you didn't know you wanted_

This season on Survivor!

Our 18 contestants have already been split into three tribes, based on their attributes. The Brains tribe uses their intelligence in their day to day life in order to avoid getting their hands dirty, the Brawns jump to get their hands dirty while the Beauties usually get someone else to get their hands dirty.

For the next 39 days, these 18 strangers will compete against each other, and against the elements, the Cambodia environment is not going to make it easy on them.

Which of these contestants have what it takes to will a million dollars? Who will outwit, out last and out play to take the title of sole Survivor?

»»◊««

Hi, my name is Stiles. Well no, my name is far worse than that, but let’s just go with Stiles.

So, I’m 24 years old, and I work for the FBI, San Francisco bureau, I’m basically a detective. Pretty good at it, too, so, d’uh, I’m in the Brains tribe.

It’s… oh man, this is going to be so much fun, I can’t wait. I’m so excited to do this, you have no idea. I’ve been a fan of this tv show since forever, I’ve watched every season at least twice and now I’m here, I’m actually here!

I’m so excited, I’m sorry. Uh, what was the question? Oh, my tribe.

Well, looking pretty good so far. There are some who stepped up to be leaders, some who were happy enough to just follow orders. I tried my best to not step on any toes on day one, ya know?

I know that if I’m to have any problems, the social game is going to be my downfall. I’m… kind of an asshole. Sarcastic asshole. Mostly it’s for joke and stress relief, but I know not everyone sees it as that, it’s gotten me into trouble before.

Plus, it’s not the first time I’m in a room filled with geniuses. They tend to want to compete head on, and pair that with the physical challenges, this… is not gonna end well.

I’m still excited, though, let’s do this!

Oh, the money? Well, if I win, I’m gonna take my pops on a celebratory retirement vacation, I’m gonna buy the apartment I’m renting and open up a dog shelter, specifically targeted for retired K9 units. Nobody knows what to do with the doggies when they have to be retired because of age and I wanna fix that.

But, I mean, come on. Have you heard me talk? I’m in Heaven just by being here. Seriously, as long as I’m not the first one out, I’m perfectly happy with what I’ve accomplished.

»»◊««

My name is Derek and I’m a fire fighter. I’ve been training since highschool, and now, I’m 28 years old and I run a station. I’m in the Brawns tribe.

It’s … this is going to be very hard for me. Not the physical challenges, or fighting the elements, the stress. No, I can handle that, but the social game. That’s… I’m not a social person. My older sister says that I’d be most happy living in the middle of the woods with a dog and a vegetable garden and she’s absolutely right.

It’s never easy for me to talk to people, and make friends, and… be social. So this is going to be a challenge, a pretty darn big one. I’m excited for it, though. I’ll do my best to help my tribe.

My tribe seems pretty diverse, people from different backgrounds and slices of life. It’ll be interesting to see how we go on, I know there’s pressure to win challenges, cause we’re Brawn but, honestly, I’m looking forward to learning from these people. If I can handle, you know, talking to them, then I think this is going to be a learning experience.

What will I do with the money? Well, nothing, considering I’m not going to win. That’s not my goal, here, really. My goal is to see if I can handle this, mentally and emotionally. The more days I survive, the more pats on the back I’ll give myself.

»»◊««

Well, Stiles wasn’t the first one to get out of the game, but it was a close call.

The Brains lost the first challenge, of course the nerds did.

There was no way they were ever going to beat the Brawns, all of those people were large, intimidating and honestly, really fucking hot. The Beauties weren’t as fast or strong, but they were a lot better than the brains.

It was a close call, though, right at the end, and the only reason the nerds managed a close call loss was Stiles and his Academy training. So they didn’t kick him out.

They wanted to, though, Stiles was sure of it. He couldn’t figure out why, but it became apparent over the next couple of days.

While they were supposed to be on the same level, at least intellectually, they weren’t. Apparently, Stiles being a detective gave him a special kind of something that pushed him away from the rest of the group.

Several people told him this. Bitches.

Stiles fought, though. He didn’t fake it, change his personality to please his tribe, no. Instead, he worked his butt off around camp, gave everything he got and then some at challenges and even though he was completely shunned from the social group, they kept him around, because with Stiles, they actually managed to win an immunity and a reward challenge.

He was miserable, but at least he was still in the game.

And that went all to hell on Day 11. It was an immunity challenge day, and on those days, they all tried to sleep in a little, keep their strengths up.

Stiles, however, was brutally woken up by someone punching his stomach. He woke up with a yelp, very surprised to see one of his tribe mates hovering over him.

Deucalion was a college professor who liked to lift weights, so Stiles’ stomach was properly hurting.

The older man kept screaming that Stiles stole something from his bag, something important.

Stiles insisted that he didn’t steal anything. Deucalion insisted that he did. Stiles assured him that he didn’t steal the immunity idol Deucalion found. It was a logical deduction, really. Stiles was really surprised that nobody else figured it out.

Deucalion punched Stiles straight in the nose. He would’ve gone in for more, but Stiles didn’t hesitate in defending himself. He never once attacked, but he sure as hell defended himself.

The other guys in the tribe tried to separate them. The camera crew helped. It didn’t take long for Jeff and the med team to get there.

Stiles had a broken nose, but it wasn’t his first, so he refused to be taken for an x-ray, insisted on an icepack and basic bandages.

All the while, Deucalion was screaming bloody murder.

‘Stiles’, Jeff finally said. ‘Why don’t you tell me what happened here?’

‘I woke up to a punch to the stomach. He thinks I stole his immunity idol.’

‘He never said that’, Kali said. She and Deucalion have been allied since day one.

‘It was an easy deduction’, Stiles rolled his eyes, ‘considering he never actually said what I supposedly stole, and if you take into account how many times he’s been running off alone in the first days. He probably found it three days ago, that’s when he stopped looking.’

Nobody had an answer to that.

‘Did you steal it?’, Jeff asked.

‘No’, Stiles said strongly.

Jeff narrowed his eyes. ‘Do you know who stole it?’

Stiles tilted his head. ‘I’d probably be able to figure it out if I’d focus on everybody’s body language right now but I’m not gonna to that, cause it will ruin the game.’

‘Alright’, Jeff said after a long while. ‘The producers want to send Deucalion home-‘

‘He did nothing wrong!’, Kali yelled.

‘I’m legit bleeding’, Stiles said under his breath.

‘But we’re not going to do that’, Jeff went on, ‘We’re going to have a vote. There’s five of you, I’m going to need at least three pro votes. All in favor to send Deucalion home?’

Stiles didn’t hesitate. The other two team members didn’t either, leaving only Deucalion and Kali.

Deucalion was sent home and Stiles was sure that Kali was going to start a full on war against Stiles.

That was not going to make his life easy. Not at all. He was going to be the next one sent home, for sure. With a broken nose, no less.

»»◊««

They still had to go to the immunity challenge, where shocks were all happening all around.

On one hand, the other tribes were staring at Stiles’ heavily bruised nose. On the other hand, the Brawn tribe was also missing a player, who apparently had to be medically evacuated.

‘We were supposed to be sending a single person home, but unfortunately we had to send two. Obviously, there’s not going to be an immunity challenge today.  Instead, we sped up the process.’

Jeff paused dramatically.

‘What process?’, a blonde chick from the Beauty tribe asked.

Jeff smirked. ‘Drop your buffs.’

Judging by the look on everyone’s faces, Stiles was the only one happy about this plot twist.

»»◊««

Stiles got to stay on the beach the Brains were staying on, but he was the only one, thank God for that, and this new tribe, it sure looked a lot better than the last one.

For starters, there were the two Beauties. Malia was a free, rebellious spirit, who bonded with Stiles over The Killers and Arctic Monkey, while Kira was a little more on the shy side, which only made her more adorable, especially when she was talking with Stiles about superheroes.

Then there were the three Brawns dudes.

They were both stupidly large and attractive and that’s where their similarities stopped.

Aidan worked in construction and had an affinity to boobs, as he kept saying, every other minute of every waking hour. He spent the other minute hitting on Malia.

His seemingly new best friend, Theo, was more of an ass guy, as he kept saying, every other minute of every waking hour. He spent the other minute hitting on Kira.

Needless to say, Stiles was not a fan.

And then, the last of Brawn, was Derek. He was nothing like his team mates.

He liked his job, liked the sense of accomplishment when he saved a life. As much as the other two idiots talked about boobs and abs, Derek would talk about his squad mates and his sisters, about history and classic literature.

 He was kinda nice, actually, if not a little on the shy side. Stiles could see that he was trying, though, and it wasn’t that bad.

From where he was standing, at least. But the more he looked at Derek and his tribe mates, the more he saw. It didn’t really look like Derek was a part of the bros. The both of them barely gave him the time of day, only when they needed it. And every time they started talking about boobs or ass, Derek would never last more than a minute before he’d find someplace else to be.

Stiles talked to the girls about it, and they also thought he was right.

Still, it was pretty obvious what was going to happen the next time they lost a challenge.

The Brawns will vote together, the numbers forcing them. And the Beauty will definitely vote together, hopefully not with the Brawns.

That left Stiles, the odd one out. The Brawns will most likely vote him out, because his lack of boobs and ass was a breaking point, surely. But if Stiles voted with the girls, then they’d have a tie.

If that happened, Stiles would probably end up making fire against someone. At least that was a chance, whereas voting by himself was none.

It was a no brainer, really.

Stiles actually liked Malia and Kira, as a plus. They were nice and they didn’t berate him for being one of the Brains. And they were totally on board with voting Theo out. Stiles trusted them.

»»◊««

They won the first immunity challenge after the swap.

The two teams were neck in neck in the first part of the challenge, the physical part. But the second part consisted in a giant 3d puzzle. It was a pretty nasty one, and Stiles and Derek were ordered to make it.

Ordered, because their team mates didn’t actually ask them, Theo just ordered them.

Neither Stiles nor Derek made a scene. They were up against Kali and one of the former Beauties, and they beat them. Stiles and Derek worked beautifully together and they solved the puzzle in record time.

‘Fucking asshole’, Kali yelled at Stiles, showing him the finger. ‘Shove that fucking puzzle up your ass’.

Stiles merely rolled his eyes. In the back of his head, though, he thought that Kali for sure was spilling shit about him to the other tribe. If, by a miracle, he got to the merge, he’d… just have Malia and Kira by his side, which might want to ally themselves back with the other Beauties.

Yeah, he was fucked.

»»◊««

And they lost the next immunity challenge, because Kali ‘accidentally’ hit him in the nose, breaking it again.

Once again, he refused medical attention.

»»◊««

He overheard a conversation the Brawns were having. He didn’t mean to, it just happened, they were talking in the middle of camp.

‘Of course Derek will vote with us’, Theo was laughing. ‘I mean, it’s the only way he’ll go forward in the game, right?’

‘Right’, Aiden went on. ‘Plus, we need as many Brawns as possible once the merge comes.’

Derek said nothing. But it wasn’t like the other two were actually expecting something from him. Stiles saw it in their eyes, they thought they were running the show and that Derek was going to fall at their feet, for a chance to get forward in the game.

That didn’t really happen, because Derek was currently fuming. He was a pretty chill guy most of the time, but now he looked like he wanted to punch the other guys.

He didn’t. Instead, Derek’s eyes landed directly on Stiles. He froze, realized that running would be plain stupid by this point, so he just shrugged.

Derek nodded once, slowly, tilting his head towards the trail leading to the Tree Mail clearing. Stiles was quick to head down there.

It only took a couple of minutes for Derek to get there, but he didn’t say anything, he grabbed Stiles’ wrist and dragged him further into the woods, where they were both certain nobody would hear them.

‘What’s up, big guy?’, Stiles smiled kindly, as he always did when dealing with Derek.

‘They want to vote you out’, Derek said in an apologetic tone.

Stiles snorted. ‘Obviously.’

‘Are the girls voting with you?’

‘Yeah’, Stiles frowned.

‘So you trust them’, Derek insisted.

‘For now, yeah. What’s this about?’

Derek hesitated. ‘Could I vote with you guys?’

Stiles’ jaw dropped. ‘Are you… is this… I mean, wait. Are you tricking me right now, trying to find out who we’re voting for and-‘

‘No’, Derek strongly shook his head. ‘No, the idiots think I’m voting with them but I really don’t want to do that, I want to vote with you.’

Stiles took a second to process.

‘Dude’, he tilted his head. ‘That’s a dumb move.’

‘Why?’, Derek frowned.

‘You’d dig yourself in a hole’, Stiles started explaining. ‘I’m all alone, dude. I have Malia and Kira now, but I don’t know if they’re gonna still want me after the merge. And I have nobody on the old Brains tribe. Nobody. But you have the Brawns. If you make it to the merge, you might have the numbers.’

Derek just shook his head. ‘I’m at the very bottom of that pole and… Come on, you see it, I know you see it. They treat me like I should worship the ground they walk on and be forever grateful for the fact that they’re willing to string me along for another vote or two.’

‘Yeah, but dude’, Stiles narrowed his eyes. ‘You’re smart. You can use them for a while and then outsmart them.’

‘But I don’t want that’, Derek ran a hand over his face.

‘But you want a million dollars’, Stiles said in song.

‘Not really’, Derek deadpanned.

Stiles just blinked at him.

‘Right now, I either want to shove a branch up Theo’s ass, or vote with you. I feel like the latter is more socially acceptable in this case.’

‘In this case’, Stiles repeated, mildly in awe.

‘Plus, I like you’, Derek mumbled under his breath. ‘That’s supposed to count in this game, right?’

Yes, it was, that’s what Stiles thought, at least. And he did like Derek, and he could tell he wasn’t lying right now.

It’s not like he had much to lose, by this point. Derek could be double crossing him, but even if that was the case, Kira and Malia were less likely to go with that.

Derek didn’t seem like the double crossing type, either. Stiles wanted to trust him. So at that moment, he did.

‘Don’t shove a branch up Theo’s ass’, he finally said. ‘Just write his name down.’

Derek nodded, slowly and with purpose.

‘This conversation never happened’, Stiles went on.

‘What conversation?’, came the prompt response, which made him grin.

»»◊««

Kira and Malia said it was his choice, whether to trust Derek or not. They could all three change their vote, with the same result. If Derek still voted with Stiles, then they were at a tie, and if he didn’t, then Theo would be gone.

Stiles didn’t change the votes, and his gamble paid off.

The shock on Theo’s face was the most beautiful thing Stiles has seen in Cambodia, and the second came just a few seconds later. Aiden glared at Derek viciously, telling him a very murderous ‘You’re fucking going down’. Derek smiled at him, answering an innocent ‘I’m taking you with me’.

It was beautiful.

»»◊««

Camp life changed drastically after that.

Malia and Kira were quick to take Derek into their fold, and Stiles was feeling very happy about that. He liked watching Derek open up to the girls, still shyly but less than before. And Stiles liked even more when the four of them were hanging out, talking about this and that… and Aiden was a way away, sulking all alone.

Stiles never said he wasn’t petty.

»»◊««

‘Should we like… try and lose the challenge tomorrow?’, Malia asked. ‘Get rid of Aiden sooner, rather than later?’

‘NO’, Stiles all but screamed in horror.

‘That never works’, Derek added, a lot more calmly.

‘Absolutely never’, Stiles insisted.

‘Fine’, Malia sighed. ‘Then we’re gonna kick some butt tomorrow.’

‘That would be preferable’, Derek deadpanned.

It made Stiles laugh.

»»◊««

They lost the next challenge, but it was all Aidan’s fault.

He literally sat down in the middle of the challenge and refused to get up.

It was a first in Survivor history. And Derek had to hold Stiles back from punching Aiden in the jaw.

Needless to say, Aiden was sent off the island that day. He left with a manic grin that made Stiles kind of sick to his stomach.

‘I can’t believe he has so little respect for this game’, Derek said once Jeff snuffed Aiden’s flame.

It was exactly what Stiles was thinking.

»»◊««

They made it to the merge. Their tribe of four, the other tribe of five.

Kali and Stiles were the only ones left from the Brains tribe, Malia and Kira had another former member, Hayden, and the Brawns had four guys in total: Derek, Ennis, Julia and Boyd.

However, the original tribes didn’t count for much, considering it became clear very early that they were going to go with the alliances made during the swapped tribes.

Malia and Kira all but kidnapped Stiles and Derek into the woods, borderline desperate. The girls thought they’d manage to convince Hayden to come over to their side, but it wasn’t happening and now the other tribe had the numbers, they could easily chop the rest of them, one by one.

Stiles was anxious, sure. But he couldn’t stop staring at Derek.

Because while Malia and Kira were close to crying and Stiles’ anxiety was slowly but surely raising, Derek was grinning.

‘Dude’, Stiles finally said. ‘What?’

‘Boyd is voting with us.’

That rendered everyone speechless.

‘He’s on their bottom pole, Julia keeps hitting on him, he avidly dislikes the rest of them, and he and I talked a lot on those first days. So he’ll much rather vote with us, if we’d be willing to vote Julia off first.’

‘And you trust him?’, Stiles felt the need to ask.

Derek threw him a look. ‘For now.’

It was good enough for him.

They had a long discussion, then, about sticking together to the last five. Stiles knew that, statistically, that wasn’t going to happen. But he wanted it to.

And over the next days, especially after Boyd did vote with them and Julia went home, Stiles really wanted to stick with these people to the end.

Especially Derek.

They got close after the swap, closer than either of them was with the girls. Stiles liked Derek, he liked him a lot. Liked the way he thinks, the way he talks about things he’s interested in, liked his sense of humor and his sarcasm, liked the way his eyes got brighter when he talked about his sisters, and most of all, Stiles liked the way Derek seemed to like him too.

»»◊««

The night after Julia went home, Stiles couldn’t sleep, for some reason. So he heard when Derek left the shelter, and he didn’t hesitate much in going after him.

He found Derek on the beach, brooding. He didn’t say anything when Stiles sat down next to him, so Stiles asked.

‘What’s up, dude?’

It took a while for Derek to answer.

‘It’s getting hard.’

‘Yeah’, Stiles was quick to nod. ‘We’re fighting for individual immunity, our bodies are on the verge of shutting down and these guys are not gonna go down easy, that’s for sure.’

‘It’s not that’, Derek said softly. ‘I miss home.’

Stiles smiled, encouraging.

‘I miss my job, I miss my crew, cooking on the night shift and roshambo-ing who goes to cats in trees calls. I miss my big sister teasing me about my inexistent love life, I miss my little sister whining over her too complicated love life and … hell, I miss my bed. And my couch.’

Stiles was still smiling. ‘It’s not long now, 10 days left.’

‘It’s gonna be some really bad 10 days, though.’

‘Yeah’, Stiles sighed.

It was silent for a while longer.

‘Stiles’, Derek sighed. ‘If we pull this off, if we send them all home, and it’s just us five left. What happens then?’

He would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought of that and really, he had no real answer.

‘Well what do you want to happen?’, Stiles asked.

‘I don’t want to win’, Derek, the madman, smiled. ‘I don’t need the money, I’m kind of rich.’

Stiles blinked rapidly. ‘Kind of?’

‘I lost my family when I was a teenager. There were 11 life insurance policies. Laura hired someone, then, and made good investments and I really don’t need this money.’

‘Me neither’, Stiles admitted after a beat. ‘I mean, I want it, but I’d just take my dad on vacation, buy the apartment I’m staying in and build a dog shelter.’

Derek grinned at that, for a while.

‘I still wanna try’, he said next.

‘Same’, Stiles nodded. ‘So. After it’s just the five of us…’

‘If it comes down to my choice’, Derek said slowly, ‘I’d have you by my side.’

‘Why, though?’, Stiles narrowed his eyes.

‘Cause you won’t have a lot of votes on the jury’, Derek didn’t miss a beat.

‘You just said you don’t wanna win’.

Derek tilted his head. ‘Well, then because you deserve the shot at a million bucks. You’re a good player and you’re a good person and … since you trusted me and I trusted you with kicking out Theo, you just keep fighting and proving how… strong and awesome you are. I like it.’

The last part was said in a whisper around a smile and it made Sties shortwire, completely.

His brain stopped working, it kept yelling Derek’s name in his head, he lost control of his hands, because they were suddenly on Derek’s neck and really, Stiles had no idea how he was doing it, but he was kissing Derek.

It took very little time for Stiles to snap out of it and detach himself.

‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that’.

He wanted to run right out of there, but Derek didn’t let him, grabbing a hold of his wrist. He was also looking at Stiles with wide eyes.

‘We can’t start this now’, he said in a rush. ‘Couples rarely work out in this game, there’s always a target on their backs and the game is only going to get more and more complicated.’

Stiles focused on one single thing.

‘You said now.’

Derek’s face softened at that, a small smile appearing on his lips.

‘Later.’, was all he said.

But it was enough for Stiles. He twisted his hand until he could wrap his fingers around Derek.

‘It’s you and me to the final three. I don’t know how’, Stiles grinned, ‘but we’re doing it.’

‘Okay’, Derek nodded once. ‘That sounds perfect.’

Even though Stiles wanted nothing more than to make out with Derek in the wet sand, he got up instead and went back to the shelter, relieved to see that everybody else was still asleep.

»»◊««

Derek was right, things got a lot more complicated after that.

The people in minority were trying to save themselves, and it was taking a toll on Malia and Kira. They were having doubts, and it felt like the guys spent most of their time reassuring her.

The challenges got harder, but the rewards got better. Stiles won some of them, got taken on some of the rewards.

Kali was awful towards him. She rarely spoke to him, and when she did, she cursed and called him names. She also burned his clothes, always stole water from his bottle and overall, being a massive bitch towards him. Stiles ignored her. So did his allies.

»»◊««

The thing about being a Survivor fan and being on Survivor was that you expected certain things to happen. Immunity idols coming into play, people changing allegiances, a tribe swap to happen, a merge to happen, family coming to visit. The thing about Survivor was that no matter how much you expected them to happen, they still surprised you.

So when at the beginning of a reward challenge Jeff said ‘You won’t be competing just for yourself’, Stiles instantly started fighting back tears.

He watched with a giant grin on his face as the rest of the contestants were hugged by their family and friends, and waited patiently for his turn, second to last before Derek.

‘So, Stiles’, Jeff said. ‘Who are you expecting to show up?’

‘It depends if my dad has a big case. If he does, then it’s gonna be Scott, my best friend forever.’

Everybody chuckled at that.

Jeff smiled. ‘It seems like crime took a well deserved break. Here’s Noah, Stiles’ father.’

Yeah, Stiles was crying already. He kept on crying as he shoved his face into the crook of his dad’s neck, as he heard his happy laughter and as he squeezed the life out of Stiles.

‘You lost so much weight, kiddo’, was the only thing he said, but it was okay.

As they detached themselves from the hug, Stiles’ eyes immediately went to Derek. Who looked like he was having an aneurism.

He wasn’t saying anything, though. As they got to his side, though, Stiles’ dad squeezed Derek’s shoulder.

‘What’s up, Hale?’

It was Stiles’ turn to have an aneurism. Because Derek was Derek Hale and everything came to Stiles in bursts. He lost his family when he was 16, when the house in the Preserve burned down.  Stiles’ dad was only a deputy then, but he was the one who solved the case, sent Allison’s aunt to prison. His older sister was Laura, a deputy that always harmlessly flirted with Stiles when he visited, Stiles knew that their younger sister was currently enrolled at the Police Academy and in the back of his mind, he knew that Derek was the chief of a fire house in San Francisco.

‘Jesus Christ’, he finally breathed out.

‘Holy shit’, Derek agreed.

‘So you know each other?’, Jeff asked, heavily amused.

‘Not before this’, Derek was the first to get back his wits. ‘We’re from the same town, Stiles’ dad is the Sheriff.’

‘That’s nice’, Jeff chuckled. ‘Let’s get back to this, though. Derek. Who’s gonna come running to you?’

‘Laura’, he smiled , ‘My older sister. There’s no way she’s missing the opportunity to tell me exactly how bad I look.’

For some reason, Jeff looked to the Sheriff.

‘She’s not coming’, he said around a smile. ‘Sorry, kid, someone had to stay in charge while I was away.’

‘That’s alright’, Derek kept on smiling. ‘Cause that means it’s gonna be my baby sister.’

‘I AM NOT A BABY’, came the muffled scream from the forest. And sure enough, there was a young woman running out, and Derek was quick to catch her, as Cora wrapped her entire body around her brother.

»»◊««

Derek won the challenge and, of course, Jeff said he could take another player and their family member on the reward.

‘We’re taking the Sheriff’, Cora said before Derek got to.

Her brother glared. ‘You’re supposed to let me pick, so I can take in account strategies and alliances and-‘

‘Nope, the Sheriff’s coming.’, Cora insisted. ‘I gotta kiss up to my future boss.’

Stiles confidently made his way forward, dragging his dad, because he knew there was no way Derek was going to say no to his sister.

And he didn’t.

»»◊««

They were taken on another beach for the reward, where they had burgers and beer and Stiles was so happy, he didn’t even try to make his dad eat healthy.

Everyone was having a good time, talking about this and that and laughing.

Cora got serious, at some point, poking her brother’s stomach.

‘Did I really screw up your strategy?’

Derek laughed at that. ‘No, it’s fine. I was going to take Stiles either way.’

‘So you boys are playing together?’, the Sheriff asked.

And so they started explaining, what happened in the game and where they were at now. It was clear that both the Sheriff and Cora were very proud of them, and really, both Stiles and Derek melted a little at that.

‘Hey’, Derek hesitantly said next, ‘did Laura really have to stay behind at the station?’

‘No’, the Sheriff was quick to say, pointedly looking at Cora.

‘I’m not supposed to say’, she whined, ‘she yelled at me not to say.’

‘Cora’, Derek said with a frown, ‘you never listen to Laura.’

It took a while, but Cora nodded. Then, she grinned.

‘She’s going to kill me for not letting her tell you, but you’d only obsess about it and probably lose the game, so.’, Cora took a deep breath. ‘Laura didn’t think she could handle coming here, because she keeps throwing up on and off all day.’

Derek’s frown deepened. ‘Is she sick?’

‘Nope’, Cora cheerily piped up.

It took a few seconds, before Derek’s frown turned into a glare which, surprisingly, turned to the Sheriff.

‘Did Deputy Parrish get my sister pregnant?’

‘He sure did’, the Sheriff smiled.

It took only two seconds for Derek to start crying, and as he wrapped a hand around Cora’s shoulder, he also grabbed a hold of Stiles’ hand.

The Sheriff and Cora both saw it, and they were both surprised by it. But, thankfully, they said nothing.

And, really, if Stiles and Derek shared a quick kiss in the boat back to camp, nobody was there to see.

Except for the cameras. Stiles didn’t even see them anymore, that’s how used to them he got.

»»◊««

By no small miracle, they did it. They kicked off the island everybody they wanted, so they made it to the last five. Him and Derek, Boyd, Malia and Kira.

That night, they had a party. It wasn’t much, they didn’t have much, but they did fry all the fish they had and cracked open more coconuts that they needed and stayed up longer than they should have.

It was a good thing, too, because they were all awake when Jeff came, announcing that Boyd’s wife had gone into labor and that she requested he come home.

Boyd was frozen in place, and they all kinda were the same, because they didn’t know Erica was pregnant.

Derek moved first, started moving around the shelter, picking things up.

‘What are you doing?’, Boyd finally asked.

‘Packing your things. Look’, Derek smiled at the other man. ‘It’s just a million dollars. You can work you ass off and make it yourself. Hell, you can come work for me and I’ll give it to you as a Christmas bonus. You’ll never get back your wife giving birth to your first child.’

Needless to say, Boyd left the game.

And there were four left.

»»◊««

‘Malia and I are gonna vote together’, Kira said just as they were leaving for the last immunity challenge. ‘One of you is probably going to win this challenge, so we’re going to vote with the other one.’

‘And the two of you will vote the same, right?’, Malia went on. ‘There’s no way you’re writing each other’s name.’

It only took a fugitive glance between Stiles and Derek to make that decision.

‘So fire it is’, Kira said, grabbing both Stiles’ and Derek’s hands. ‘We’ve been together for so long, it feels wrong to actually choose.’

‘Totally’, Malia nodded along, grabbing Derek’s free hand. ‘Let the fates choose our faith.’

‘The Survivor fates?’, Derek asked, skeptical.

It made everyone laugh.

»»◊««

The challenge was a huge bitch.

They were all exhausted, at the end of the line, really.

And the last challenge, as always, was one of resistance.

They were supposed to be on a pole with tiny ledgers on it, hanging on for dear life, really, and the winner was the one who could last the longest.

The girls lasted about 10 minutes.

By the half hour mark, Stiles’ feet were trembling.

‘Ya know, logically speaking’, Stiles started saying, not looking at Derek, ‘you’re gonna beat me.’

‘And why is that?’, it was Jeff that asked.

‘He’s fitter than I am.’

‘Not really’, Derek drawled out.

Stiles scoffed. ‘Yes, really. You’re a firefighter, it’s part of your job to stay fit. I, however, barely have time for a jog twice a week, and if I’m lucky a sparring session every other week.’

‘Hold on, Stiles’, Derek said gently. Looking to him, Stiles saw that Derek was looking very fondly at him. ‘You can do this.’

Derek winked at him. And then his feet immediately started shaking, as did his arms. In a minute, Derek was on the ground, and Stiles won the last immunity challenge of the season.

»»◊««

He wasn’t happy about that. Actually, he was furious, because he was certain Derek let him win.

Stiles barely waited to get back at camp before he dragged Derek into the woods.

‘I know what you did’, he all but roared, ‘and I’m pissed.’

‘I know’, Derek, the bastard, smile. ‘But it was the logical decision.’

‘How the hell was it the logical decision?’

‘I’m a firefighter’, Derek said slowly.

‘Exactly! You know how to _stop_ fires!’

‘And in order to do that, I have to know how to start them. Honesty, Stiles, I’m better than you are, and you know it.’

It was true, and Stiles did know it.

He whined. ‘I hate it.’

Derek chuckled, acting bravely and wrapping his arms around Stiles. It didn’t take long for Stiles to return the hug, cuddling to the other man as much as he could.

‘I could give you the immunity necklace’, Stiles whispered into Derek’s neck.

‘For god’s sake, please don’t’, Derek was probably rolling his eyes. ‘You deserve it, fair and square.’

‘No, you cheated and let me win.’

‘This time’, Derek kissed his temple. ‘But you deserve this, overall. You played an amazing game.’

‘So did you’, Stiles was quick to argue.

‘Well, yeah’, Derek chuckled. ‘But I wouldn’t have had any chance to actually play this game, if you haven’t trusted me at the beginning.’

Stiles didn’t find it in himself to answer, so he just hugged Derek more tightly, and they were silent for a while.

‘I kinda love this’, he admitted in a whisper.

As a response, Derek lifted Stiles’ head and gave him a very sweet kiss.

‘Tonight’, he whispered against Stiles’ lips. ‘Later starts tonight.’

Stiles gave him a proper kiss for that, but detached himself completely after.

‘How do we chose who to vote for?’

Derek raised an eyebrow. ‘Roshambo?’

They voted Malia out.

»»◊««

At the last tribal council, Stiles felt like he did at the beginning of the game.

Very excited, in disbelief of what was happening around him. He got to the end. He managed to make it 39 days on Survivor.

He was exhausted, smelled like a bucket of shit, looked like shit and felt like sleeping for three weeks, but he did it. 39 days. Final three.

He felt like crying, in relief and exhaustion, but he couldn’t do that. He still had to go through the tribal council.

Which was an absolute chaotic mess. None of the questions the council asked made any sense to Stiles, and while he prided himself on being able to read people, he had absolutely no idea how they were going to vote.

He was positive Kali wasn’t going to vote with him, but that was it.

And now, they had a couple of months to wait until the show aired and Jeff got to read the final votes.

»»◊««

Looking at himself in a mirror made Stiles want to cry. He looked dead, even if the doctor said he was going to be okay.

He cried all through the skype call with his Dad and Scott.

He cried as he shaved, cursing for good measure because it was the most difficult shave of his life.

He cried during the hour long shower he took, while he used up half of the shower gel.

And then Derek knocked at his door, that one night they had to spend in a hotel before flying back to the states.

Derek, shaved and washed up, wearing sweatpants and a loose tshirt, smiling at Stiles with just a little hesitance, it made Stiles cry again. Which was ridiculous, but Derek was crying as well, even through his laughter.

They spent the night sleeping soundly, wrapped up in each other’s arms on a plush bed. They only cried for a little while, they laughed for a longer time than that.

»»◊««

‘And the winner of Survivor: Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty is… Stiles Stilinski!’

First, Stiles kissed Derek full on the lips. Then, he kissed Malia on the forehead.

Then, he ran across the set and straight into his father’s arms, as Scott and Allison were yelling around them.

»»◊««

‘So, guys. I gotta say’, Jeff was smiling. ‘After the episode aired, of your first kiss, I stalked the twitter feeds of all the contestants that were still on the island. They were all in complete shocked.’

Stiles just smiled innocently.

‘We were pretty good at hiding that, huh?’, Derek was smug about it.

‘So are you two dating?’, Jeff insisted.

‘Pretty much’, Stiles answered easily. ‘Derek moved in last week and we’re getting a puppy next month.’

Everybody on set cooed at that.

‘And Derek’, Jeff went on, ‘how’s Laura?’

‘Very pregnant. The baby’s due in two months. Still mad at Cora for telling me.’

‘Speaking of babies’, Jeff went on, ‘Boyd! What happened after you left the island?’

‘Erica had a really long labor, so I actually got to be there for baby Isaac’s birth.’

‘Congratulations!’, Jeff grinned. ‘One last question, that everyone has been asking me on twitter since that episode aired. Who stole Deucalion’s immunity idol?’

Nobody answered.

‘Kali did’, Stiles grinned. ‘She buried it somewhere on the island, and then she had to leave in a hurry for the tribe swap.’

‘Noooo’, Jeff was clearly in shock.

‘That’s true’, Kali breathed out. ‘Holy hell, Stilinski. How did you know that?’

‘To be fair, I only figured it out as I was watching the episodes. I probably would have looked for the idol if I got it sooner.’

‘It probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference’, Derek pointed out, pairing it with a kiss on Stiles’ temple.

He blushed.  

»»◊««

Stiles did take his dad on vacation after the Sheriff retired. They went to Paris, Rome and London, and Derek and Cora came along with them.

The two of them also opened up a shelter for retired K9 dogs. They named it _Survivors_.


End file.
